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II 


THE  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 


WORKS  OF  MAURUS  JÓKAI 

HUNGARIAN   EDITION 

> ^ 

The 
POOR  Plutocrats 

Translated  from  the  Hungarian 
By 

R.  NiSBET  Bain 


NEW    YORK 
DOUBLEDAY,    PAGE   &   COMPANY 


I 


Copyright,  iSgg,  by 
DOUBLEDAY  &  McCLURE  CO, 


PREFACE 


Szegény  Gazdagok  is,  perhaps,  the  most  widely 
known  of  all  Maurus  Jókai's  masterpieces. 
It  was  first  published  at  Budapest,  in  i860,  in  four 
volumes,  and  has  been  repeatedly  translated  into 
German,  while  good  Swedish,  Danish,  Dutch  and 
Polish  versions  sufficiently  testify  to  its  popularity 
on  the  Continent.  Essentially  a  tale  of  incident 
and  adventure,  it  is  one  of  the  best  novels  of  that 
inexhaustible  type  with  which  I  am  acquainted. 
It  possesses  in  an  eminent  degree  the  quality  of 
vividness  which  R.  L.  Stevenson  prized  so  highly, 
and  the  ingenuity  of  its  plot,  the  dramatic  force  of 
its  episodes,  and  the  startling  unexpectedness  of 
its  denouement  are  all  in  the  Hungarian  master's 
most  characteristic  style.  I  know  of  no  more 
stirring  incident  in  contemporary  fiction  than  the 
terrible  wrestling  match  between  strong  Juon  the 
goatherd  and  the  supple  bandit  Fatia  Negra  in  the 
presence  of  two  trembling,  defenceless  women, 
who  can  do  nothing  but  look  on.  though  their  fate 
depends  upon  the  issue  of  the  strug'gle, — and  we 

v 


VI  PREFACE 

must  go  back  to  the  pages  of  that  unsurpassed 
master  of  the  weird  and  thrilling  Sheridan  Le 
Fanu  to  find  anything  approaching  the  terror  of 
poor  Henrietta's  awful  midnight  vigil  in  the  de- 
serted csárda  upon  the  lonely  heath  when,  at  the 
very  advent  of  her  mysterious  peril,  she  discovers, 
to  her  horror,  that  her  sole  companion  and  guar- 
dian, the  brave  old  squire,  cannot  be  aroused  from 
his  drugged  slumbers. 

There  is  naturally  not  so  much  scope  for  the 
display  of  Jókai's  peculiar  and  delightful  humour, 
in  a  novel  of  incident  like  the  present  tale  as  there 
is  in  that  fine  novel  of  manners :  "A  Hungarian 
Nabob."  Yet  even  in  "Szegény  Gazdagok,"  many 
of  the  minor  characters  (e.g.,  the  parasite  Mar- 
gari,  the  old  miser  Demetrius,  the  Hungarian 
Miggs,  Clementina,  the  frivolous  Countess  Ken- 
gyelesy),  are  not  without  a  mild  Dickensian  fla- 
vour, while  in  that  rugged  but  good-natured  and 
chivalrous  Nimród,  Mr.  Gerzson,  the  Hungarian 
novelist  has  drawn  to  the  life  one  of  the  finest 
types  we  possess  of  the  better  sort  of  sporting 
Magyar  squires. 

Finally,  this  fascinating  story  possesses  in  an 
eminent  degree  the  charm  of  freshness  and  nov- 
elty, a  charm  becoming  rarer  every  year  in  these 
globe-trotting  days,  when  the  ubiquitous  tourist 


PREFACE  víí 

boasts  that  he  has  been  everywhere  and  seen 
everything.  Yet  it  may  well  be  doubted  whether 
even  he  has  penetrated  to  the  heart  of  the  wild, 
romantic,  sylvan  regions  of  the  Wallachian  and 
Transylvanian  Alps,  which  is  the  theatre  of  the 
exploits  of  that  prince  of  robber  chieftains,  the 
mighty  and  mysterious  Fatia  Negra,  and  the  home 
of  those  picturesque  Roumanian  peasants  whom 
Jókai  loves  to  depict  and  depicts  so  well. 

R.  NiSBET  Bain. 


0 


Contents 


CHAPTER 

I.  Boredom    .... 

II.  A  New  Mode  of  Duelling 

II r.  An  Amiable  Man     . 

IV.  Childish  Nonsense 

V.  She  is  Not  for  You 

VI.  Bringing  Home  the  Bride 

VII.  The  Cavern  of  Lucsia  . 

VIII.  Strong  Juon     . 

IX.  The  Geina  Maid-Market 

X.  The  Black  Jewelry 

XI.  Two  Tales,  of  which  only 

XII.  The  Soirees  at  Arad 

XIII.  Tit  for  Tat     . 

XIV.  The  Mikalai  Csárda 

XV.  Who  It  was  that  Recognized 

XVI.  Leander  Baberossy 

XVII.  Mr.  Margari     . 

XVIII.  The  Undiscoveraüle  Lady 

XIX.  The  Shaking  Hand 

XX.  The  Fight  for  -the  Gold 

XXI.  The  Hunted  Beast 

XXII.  The  Sight  of  Terror     . 

XXIII.  The  Accommodation 

XXIV.  Conclusion 


One 


IS  True 


Fatia  Ni 


iS 

29 

34 

64 

79 
115 
142 

157. 

166 

I  go 

210 

225 

250 

261 

298 

312 

329 

353 

360 

375 
402 
416 
421 


POOR  PLUTOCRATS 


CHAPTER  I 

BOREDOM 


"Was  it  you  who  yawned  so,  Clementina?" 

Nobody  answered. 

The  questioner  was  an  old  gentleman  in  his 
eightieth  year  or  so,  dressed  in  a  splendid  flowered 
silk  Kaftan,  with  a  woollen  night-cap  on  his 
head,  warm  cotton  stockings  on  his  feet,  and  dia- 
mond, turquoise,  and  ruby  rings  on  his  fingers. 
He  was  reclining  on  an  atlas  ottoman,  his  face  was 
as  wooden  as  a  mummy's,  a  mere  patch-work  of 
wrinkles,  he  had  a  dry,  thin,  pointed  nose,  shaggy, 
autumnal-yellow  eyebrows,  and  his  large  promi- 
nent black  eyes  protected  by  irritably  sensitive 
eyelids,  lent  little  charm  to  his  peculiar  cast  of 
countenance. 

"Well !  Will  nobody  answer  ?  Who  yawned 
so  loudly  behind  my  back  just  now?"  he  asked 
again,  with  an  angry  snort.  "Will  nobody  an- 
swer?" 

Nobody  answered,  and  3'et  there  was  a  sufficient 
number  of  people  in  the  room  to  have  found  an  an- 

I 


2  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

swer  between  them.  In  front  of  the  hearth  was 
sitting  a  young  woman  about  thirty  or  thirty-five, 
with  just  such  a  strongly-pronounced  pointed 
nose,  with  just  such  high  raised  eyebrows  as  the 
old  gentleman's,  only  her  face  was  still  red  (though 
the  favour  of  Nature  had  not  much  to  do  with 
that  perhaps)  and  her  eyebrows  were  still  black; 
but  her  thin  lips  were  just  as  hermetically  sealed 
as  the  old  man's,  when  she  was  not  speaking.  This 
young  woman  was  playing  at  Patience. 

In  one  of  the  windows  sat  a  young  girl  of  six- 
teen, a  delicate  creature  of  rapid  growth,  whose 
every  limb  and  feature  seemed  preternaturally 
thin  and  fragile.  She  was  occupied  with  some 
sort  of  sewing.  At  another  little  sewing-table, 
immediately  opposite  to  her,  was  a  red-cheeked 
damsel  with  a  frightful  mop  of  light  hair  and  a 
figure  which  had  all  the  possibilities  of  stoutness 
before  it.  She  was  a  sort  of  governess,  and  was 
supposed  to  be  English,  though  they  had  only  her 
word  for  it.     She  was  reading  a  book. 

On  the  silk  ottoman  behind  lay  the  already- 
mentioned  Clementina,  who  ought  to  have  con- 
fessed to  the  sin  of  yawning.  She  was  a  spinster 
already  far  advanced  in  the  afternoon  of  life,  and 
had  cinder-coloured  ringlets  around  her  temples 
and  a  little  bit  of  beard  on  her  chin.  She  was  no 
blood  relation  of  the  family  but,  as  an  ancient 
companion  to  a  former  mistress  of  the  house,  had 
long  eaten  the  bread  of  charity  under  that  roof. 
She  was  now  engaged  upon  some  eye-tormenting, 


BOREDOM  3 

fine  fancy  work  which  could  not  have  afforded 
the  poor  creature  very  much  amusement. 

The  old  gentleman  on  the  sofa  used  to  divert 
himself  the  whole  day  by  assembling  as  many 
human  beings  around  him  as  possible  and  driving 
them  to  desperation  by  his  unendurable  nagging 
and  chiding;  they,  on  the  other  hand,  had  by 
this  time  discovered  that  the  best  defence  against 
this  domestic  visitation  was  never  to  answer  so 
much  as  a  word. 

"Of  course!  Of  course!"  continued  the  old  gen- 
tleman with  stinging  sarcasm.  *'I  know  what  a 
bore  it  is  to  be  near  me  and  about  me.  I  see 
through  it  all.  Yes,  I  knozv  that  I  am  an  unen- 
durable old  fellow  on  whom  not  a  single  word 
should  be  wasted.  I  know  well  enough  that  you 
are  not  sitting  here  beside  me  because  you  like  to 
be  here.  Who  compels  you  to  ?  I  certainly  shall 
not  prevent  anybody's  petticoat  from  going  away 
by  laying  hold  of  it.  The  gate  is  not  closed.  Noth- 
ing easier  than  to  be  off.  Yet  nobody  likes  the 
idea,  eh?  Ah-ha!  It  is  possible  that  when  the 
eye  of  old  Lapussa  no  longer  sees,  the  heart  of 
old  Lapussa  may  no  longer  remember.  Besides, 
nobody  can  tell  exactly  when  the  old  man  may 
die.  Indeed  they  are  waiting  for  his  death  every 
hour — he  is  beyond  eighty  already.  A  most 
awful  bore  certainly.  Ah  ha!  The  old  fool  is 
imable  to  get  up  any  more,  he  is  not  even  able  to 
strike  anybody.  If  he  cries  out,  nobody  is  afraid 
of  him ;  but,  at  any  rate,  he  has  strength  enough 


4  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

to  pull  the  bell-rope,  send  for  his  steward,  tell  him 
to  go  to  the  office  of  the  alispán'-'''  there  ferret  out 
and  bring  back  his  last  will  and  testament — and 
then  he  can  dictate  another  will  to  his  lawyer  quite 
cosily  at  his  ease." 

And  in  order  to  emphasize  his  words  more  ter- 
ribly, he  there  and  then  gave  a  tug  at  the  bell-rope. 

Yet  for  all  that  nobody  turned  towards  him; 
the  lady  kept  dealing  out  the  cards,  the  young  girl 
continued  working  beads  into  her  sampler,  the 
governess  went  on  reading,  and  the  old  spinster 
was  still  intent  upon  some  delicate  operation  with 
her  needle — just  as  if  nobody  had  spoken  a  word. 

In  answ^er  to  the  bell  an  ancient  serving-man 
appeared  in  the  doorway,  and  the  old  gentleman, 
after  waiting  a  little  to  see  from  the  countenances 
of  those  present  (he  could  observe  them  in  the 
mirror  opposite)  whether  his  allusion  to  his  will 
had  produced  any  effect,  and  finding  no  notice 
taken  of  it  whatever,  said  in  a  sharp,  petulant 
voice:  "Louis!" 

The  servant  approached  the  sofa  and  then  stood 
still  again. 

"My  dinner!" 

This  was  the  end  of  the  awe-inspiring  threat. 

The  old  gentleman  observed,  or  rather,  sus- 
pected, some  slight  amusement  in  the  company 
present. 

"Miss  Kleary!"  he  observed  irritably,  "don't 
you  observe  that  Henrietta  is  looking  out  of  the 

♦  Vtce-lieutenant  of  the  county. 


BOREDOM  5 

window  again  ?  I  am  bound,  Miss,  to  direct  your 
attention  to  the  fact  that  I  consider  such  a  thing 
decidedly  unbecoming  in  a  young  lady." 

"Dear  Grandpapa !''  began  the  accused. 

"Silence !  I  did  not  speak  to  Henrietta,  I  spoke 
to  Miss  Kleary.  Miss  Henrietta  is  still  a  child 
who  understands  nothing.  I  neither  address  her 
nor  attempt  to  explain  anything  to  her.  But  I 
keep  Miss  Kleary  in  this  house,  I  pay  Miss  Kleary 
a  princely  salary,  in  order  that  I  may  have  some 
one  at  hand  to  whom  I  can  explain  my  educational 
ideas.  Now  my  educational  ideas  are  good ;  nay. 
Miss,  I  think  I  may  even  say  that  they  are  very 
good.  I  will  therefore  beg  you  to  do  me  the 
favour  to  stick  to  them.  I  know  what  ought  and 
what  ought  not  to  be  allowed  young  girls ;  I  know 
that " 

The  young  girl's  face  blushed  beneath  the 
reproachful  look  of  the  old  tyrant,  whilst  the  gov- 
erness rose  defiantly  from  her  place,  and  in  order 
that  she  might  wreak  her  anger  upon  some  one, 
industriously  proceeded  to  pick  holes  in  Hen- 
rietta's sewing  and  effectually  spoil  her  whole 
day's  work. 

Thus,  it  will  be  perceived,  only  one  person  had 
the  right  to  speak ;  the  only  right  the  other  people 
had  was  not  to  listen  to  him. 

But  there  was  someone  else  in  the  background 
M'ho  had  better  rights  than  anybody,  and  this 
someone  now  began  to  hammer  with  his  fists  on 
the  door,  that  very  door  at  which  the  oldest  and 


6  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

most  trusty  domestics  hardly  dared  to  tap — began, 
I  say,  to  hammer  with  his  fists  and  kick  with  his 
heels  till  everyone  was  downright  scared. 

This  was  the  little  grandson,  the  old  gentle- 
man's spoiled  darling  little  Maksi. 

"Why  don't  you  let  in  little  Maksi?"  cried  the 
old  gentleman,  when  he  heard  him.  "Open  the 
door  for  little  Maksi;  don't  you  know  that  he  is 
not  tall  enough  to  reach  the  door-handle?  Why 
don't  you  let  him  come  to  me  when  he  wants  to 
come?" 

At  that  moment  the  footman  opened  the  door 
and  the  little  family  prince  bounded  in.  It  was  a 
pale  little  mouldy  sort  of  flower,  with  red  eyes 
and  a  cornerless  mouth  like  a  carp,  but  with  the 
authentic  family  nose  and  the  appurtenances 
thereof,  which  took  up  so  much  room  as  to  seri- 
ously imperil  the  prospects  of  the  rest  of  the  head 
growing  in  proportion.  The  little  favourite  was 
wearing  a  complete  Uhlan  costume,  even  the  four- 
cornered  chako  was  stuck  on  the  side  of  his  head ; 
he  was  flourishing  a  zinc  sword  and  grumbling 
bitterly. 

"What's  the  matter  with  little  Maksi?  Has 
anybody  been  annoying  him?" 

Grandpapa  succeeded  at  last  in  making  out  that 
on  running  out  Maksi  had  tripped  over  his  sword, 
that  his  tutor  had  wanted  to  take  it  away,  that 
Maksi  had  thereupon  drawn  his  weapon  and  made 
the  aggressor's  hand  smart  with  it,  and  that  finally 
he  had  fled  for  refuge  to  grandpapa's  room  as  the 


BOREDOM  7 

only  place  where  he  was  free  from  the  persecutions 
of  his  instructors. 

Grandpapa,  in  a  terrible  to  do,  began  to  ques- 
tion him :  "Come  here !  Where  did  you  hit  your- 
self? On  the  head,  eh!  Let  us  see!  Why,  it  is 
swollen  up — quite  red  in  fact !  Put  some  opodel- 
doc on  it!  Clementina,  do  you  hear? — some 
opodeldoc  for  Maksi !"  So  the  family  medica- 
ment had  to  be  fetched  at  once ;  but  Maksi,  snatch- 
ing it  from  the  worthy  spinster's  hand,  threw 
it  violently  to  the  ground,  so  that  the  whole  carpet 
was  bespattered  with  it. 

Nobody  was  allowed  to  scold  him  for  this,  how- 
ever, as  grandpapa  was  instantly  ready  with  an 
excuse:  "Maksi  must  not  be  vexed,'*  said  he. 
"Does  not  Maksi  wear  a  sword  by  his  side 
already?  Maksi  will  be  a  great  soldier  one  of 
these  days!" 

"Yes,"  replied  the  lad  defiantly,  "I'll  be  a 
general !" 

"Yes,  Maksi  shall  be  a  general ;  nothing  less 
than  a  general,  of  course.  But  come,  my  boy, 
take  your  finger  out  of  your  mouth." 

The  English  governess  here  thought  she  saw  an 
opportunity  of  insinuating  a  professional  remark. 

"He  who  would  be  a  general,  must,  first  of  all, 
learn  a  great  deal." 

"I  don't  want  to  learn.  I  mean  to  know  every- 
thing without  learning  it.  I  say,  grandpapa,  if 
you've  lots  of  money,  you  will  know  everything 
at  once  without  learning  it,  won't  you?" 


8  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

The  old  man  looked  around  him  triumphantly. 

"Now  that  I  call  genius,  wit!"  cried  he. 

And  with  that  he  tenderly  pressed  the  little 
urchin's  head  to  his  breast  and  murmured :  "Ah ! 
he  is  my  very  grandson,  my  own  flesh  and  blood." 

He  was  well  aware  how  aggravated  all  the 
others  would  be  at  these  words. 

Meanwhile  the  footman  was  laying  a  table. 
This  table  was  of  palisander  wood  and  supported 
by  the  semblance  of  a  swan.  It  could  be  placed 
close  beside  the  ottoman  and  was  filled  with  twelve 
different  kinds  of  dishes.  All  these  meats  were 
cold,  for  the  doctor  forbade  his  patient  hot  food. 
The  old  gentleman  tasted  each  one  of  the  dishes 
with  the  aid  of  his  finger-tips,  and  not  one  of  them 
pleased  him.  This  was  too  salt,  that  was  too 
sweet,  a  third  was  burnt,  a  fourth  was  tainted. 
He  threatened  to  discharge  the  cook,  and  bitterly 
complained  that  as  he  did  not  die  quickly  enough 
for  them,  they  were  conspiring  to  starve  him. 
They  might  have  replied  that  he  had  ordered  all 
these  things  himself  yesterday;  but  nobody  took 
the  trouble  to  contradict  him  any  longer,  so  grad- 
ually the  storm  died  away  of  its  own  accord  and 
the  old  man,  turning  towards  Maksi,  tenderly  in- 
vited him  to  partake  of  the  disparaged  dishes. 

"Come  and  eat  with  me,  Maksi,  my  darling," 

"That  I  will,"  cried  the  little  horror,  grabbing 
at  everything  simultaneously  with  both  hands. 

"Oh,  fie,  fie!"  said  grandpapa  gently.  "Take 
Maksi  out  for  a  ride  and  let  the  lacquey  go  with 


BOREDOM  9 

him  instead  of  his  tutor!"  The  old  gentleman 
then  pushed  the  little  round  table  aside  and  signi- 
fied to  the  footman  that  he  was  to  put  all  the  dishes 
carefully  away,  as  he  should  want  to  see  them 
again  on  the  morrow.  The  footman  conscien- 
tiously obeyed  this  command — which  was  given 
regularly  every  day — and  locked  up  all  the  dishes 
well  aware  that  he  would  get  a  sound  jacketting 
if  he  failed  to  produce  a  single  one  of  them  when 
required  to  do  so. 

The  old  man  knew  well  enough  that  there  was 
not  a  servant  in  the  house  who,  for  any  reward  on 
earth,  w'ould  think  of  touching  any  food  that  had 
ever  lain  on  his  table;  indeed,  they  held  it  in 
such  horror  that  they  used  regularly  to  distribute 
it  among  the  poor.  In  order  therefore  that  the 
^■ery  beggars  might  have  nothing  to  thank  him 
for,  he  had  the  food  kept  till  it  was  almost  rotten 
before  he  let  them  have  it.  As  for  his  own 
family,  he  had  not  dined  at  the  same  table  with 
them  for  ten  years. 

It  was  certainly  not  a  sociable  family.  For  ex- 
ample, the  old  gentleman's  widowed  daughter, 
red-cheeked  Madame  Langai,  did  not  exchange  a 
single  word  with  her  father  for  weeks  at  a  time. 
At  first  he  had  expected  her  to  remain  in  the  same 
room  with  him  till  nine  o'clock  every  evening, 
dealing  out  cards  for  him  or  boring  herself  to 
death  in  some  other  way  for  his  amusement. 
She  endured  it  for  a  whole  month  without  a 
word ;  but  at  last,  one  evening,  at  seven  o'clock, 


lO  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

she  appeared  before  him  in  evening  dress  and 
said  that  she  was  going  to  the  theatre. 

Old  Lapussa  glared  at  her  with  all  his  eyes, 

"To  the  theatre?"  cried  he. 

"Yes,  I  have  ordered  a  box." 

"Really?  Well,  I  hope  you  will  enjoy  your- 
self!" 

The  lady  quitted  him  with  a  shrug.  She  knew 
that  from  that  moment  she  would  inherit  a  million 
less  than  her  elder  brother;  but  nevertheless  she 
went  to  the  theatre  regularly  every  day,  and  never 
stirred  from  her  box  so  long  as  there  was  any  one 
on  the  stage  who  had  a  word  to  say. 

The  Lapussa  family  was  of  too  recent  an  origin 
for  the  great  world  to  take  much  notice  of  it,  and 
the  fame  of  its  fabulous  wealth  went  hand  in  hand 
with  the  rumour  of  a  sordid  avarice  which  was  not 
a  recommendable  quality  in  the  eyes  of  the  true 
gentry.  The  Lapussas  were,  in  fact,  not  of  gentle 
blood  at  all,  but  simply  rich.  Madame  Langai's 
elder  brother,  John,  was  notoriously  the  greatest 
bore  in  the  town,  whom  nobody,  from  the  mem- 
bers of  his  own  family  down  to  his  coffee-house 
acquaintances,  could  endure  for  a  moment.  Only 
his  father  made  much  of  him.  For  all  his  great 
vvealth,  he  was  very  stingy  and  greedy;  he  even 
lent  money  at  usury  to  his  best  friends.  Our 
amusing  little  friend  Maksi  was  this  man's  son. 
The  slender,  fanciful  damsel,  Henrietta,  who  ap- 
peared in  that  family  like  an  errant  angel  specially 
sent  there  to  be  tormented  for  the  sins  of  her 


BOREDOM  II 

whole  race,  was  the  orphan  daughter  of  another 
son  of  old  Lapussa,  who  had  lost  father  and 
mother  at  the  same  time  in  the  most  tragical  man- 
ner :  they  had  both  been  drowned  by  the  capsizing 
of  a  small  boat  on  the  Danube.  Henrietta  herself 
had  only  been  saved  with  the  utmost  difficulty. 
She  was  only  twelve  years  old  at  the  time,  and  the 
catastrophe  had  had  such  an  effect  upon  her 
nerves  that  ever  afterwards  she  collapsed  at  the 
least  sign  of  anger,  and  often  fell  a  weeping  for 
no  appreciable  cause.  Since  the  death  of  her  par- 
ents, who  had  loved  her  dearly,  Henrietta  had 
been  obliged  to  live  at  her  grandfather's  house, 
where  nobody  loved  anybody. 

But  no,  I  am  mistaken.  She  had  a  brother, 
Koloman  by  name,  who  was  a  somewhat  simple 
but  thoroughly  good-natured  youth.  He  used  to 
appear  very  rarely  among  his  relations  because 
they  always  fell  foul  of  him.  The  poor  fellow's 
sole  fault  was  that  he  was  in  the  habit  of  regularly 
selling  his  new  clothes.  Still,  I  am  doubtful,  after 
all,  whether  this  can  fairly  be  imputed  to  him  as  a 
fault  at  all,  for  although  it  was  always  being 
dinned  into  his  ears  that  his  family  was  immensely 
rich,  he  was  never  blessed  with  a  penny  to  spend  in 
amusing  himself  with  his  comrades,  and  therefore 
had  to  do  the  best  he  could  to  raise  the  wind.  An- 
other failing  of  Koloman's  was  that  he  would 
not  learn  Latin,  and  in  consequence  thereof  he 
had  to  suffer  many  things.  Old  Lapussa  and  his 
son  John  indeed  had  no  notion  whatever  of  the 


12  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

Latin  tongue.  The  former  in  his  youthful  days 
had  never  gone  to  school  at  all,  because  he  was  oc- 
cupied in  building  up  a  business.  The  latter  had 
not  gone  to  school  in  his  youth  because  by  that 
time  his  people  were  already  rich  and  he  consid- 
ered it  beneath  him.  The  consequence  was  that 
neither  father  nor  son  had  a  proper  idea  on  the 
simplest  subjects,  except  what  they  picked  up  on 
their  travels.  Still  that  was  no  reason  why  Kolo- 
man  should  not  learn,  but  as  the  tutor  had  his 
hands  full  already  with  little  Maksi,  Koloman  was 
obliged  to  go  to  the  national  school  in  order  to 
become  a  wiser  man  than  his  forbears. 

Poor  Henrietta  often  slaved  away  for  hours  at 
a  time  with  her  younger  brother  sitting  at  the  table 
by  her  side,  helping  him  to  struggle  through  the 
genders,  declensions,  conjugations,  or  whatever 
else  the  infernal  things  were  called ;  and  the  end  of 
it  all  was  that,  at  last,  she  learnt  to  know  Latin 
better  than  Koloman,  and  secretly  translated  all 
his  exercises  from  Cornelius  Nepos  and  the  Bu- 
colics of  Virgil  for  him. 

But  we  must  not  linger  any  longer  over  these 
Latin  lessons,  for  a  much  more  important  event 
claims  our  attention — Mr.  John  is  coming  home, 
and  we  must  hasten  forward  to  admire  him. 

Mr.  John  Lapussa  was  a  perfect  prototype  of 
the  whole  family.  His  extraordinarily  lanky 
pinched  figure  seemed  even  lankier  than  it  was  by 
nature  because  he  always  carried  his  head  so  high : 
he  peered  down  from  that  elevation  upon  human- 


BOREDOM  13 

itv  at  large  as  if  there  was  something  the  matter 
with  his  eyes  which  prevented  him  from  properly 
raising  the  lids.  In  him  the  dimensions  of  the 
family  nose  were  made  still  more  remarkable  by 
an  inordinately  tiny  chin  and  thin  compressed  lips. 
His  moustache  was  shaved  down  to  the  very  cor- 
ners of  his  mouth,  only  a  little  mouse-tail  sort  of 
arrangement  being  left  on  each  side,  which  was 
twisted  upwards  and  dyed  black  with  infinite  skill. 
His  costume  was  elegant  and  ultra-refined,  and 
only  differed  from  the  fashion  in  being  extra  stiff 
and  tight-fitting.  Moreover,  all  the  buttons  of  his 
shirt  and  his  waistcoat  were  precious  stones,  and 
he  had  a  plenitude  of  rings  on  his  fingers  which 
he  delighted  to  show  off  by  ostentatiously  adjust- 
ing his  cravat  in  the  course  of  conversation,  or 
softly  stroking  the  surface  of  his  superfine  coat. 

Mr.  John  entered  the  room  without  looking  at 
a  soul,  and  paced  up  and  down  it  with  his  hands 
behind  his  back.  Then  he  suddenly  caught  sight 
of  his  father,  kissed  his  hand  and  resumed  his 
dignified  saunter.  It  was  evident  that  he  was 
bursting  for  some  one  to  speak  and  ask  him  what 
was  the  matter. 

Clementina  was  the  first  to  speak. 

"Your  honour !"  said  she. 

"What  is  it?"  he  asked,  lifting  his  head  still 
higher. 

"I  have  finished  the  embroidery  for  your  shirt 
front  which  your  honour  was  pleased  to  com- 
mand." 


14  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

His  honour  with  a  haughty  curl  of  the  Hp  con- 
descended to  glance  down  upon  the  proffered 
embroidery.  I  am  afraid  Clementina  was  a  poor 
physiognomist,  she  might  have  noticed  from  his 
face  how  utterly  indifferent  he  was  to  her  and  her 
embroidery,  which  he  regarded  with  puckered  eyes 
and  screwed-up  mouth. 

"No  good.  Those  flowers  are  too  big ;  it  is  the 
sort  of  thing  the  Wallachian  peasants  stitch  on 
to  their  shirts."  And  with  that  he  took  up 
Clementina's  scissors  from  the  work-table  and 
deliberately  snipped  into  little  bits  the  whole  of 
the  difficult  piece  of  work  which  the  worthy 
woman  had  been  slaving  away  at  for  a  week  and 
more,  finally  pitching  it  away  contemptuously 
while  she  sat  there  and  stared  at  him  dum- 
foundered. 

"John,  John !"  said  the  old  man  in  mild  remon- 
strance. 

"To  show  me  such  rubbish  when  I  am  mad ! 
When  I  am  wroth!  When  I  am  beside  myself 
with  fury!" 

"Why  are  you  angry,  and  with  whom?" 

John  went  on  as  if  he  did  not  mean  to  tell  the 
cause  of  his  anger.  He  flung  himself  into  an  arm- 
chair, crossed  his  legs,  plunged  his  hands  into  the 
depths  of  his  pockets  and  then,  starting  up,  began 
to  pace  the  room  again. 

"I  am  furious." 

"Then  what's  the  matter?"  enquired  the  old 
man  anxiously. 


BOREDOM  15 

John  again  flung  himself  into  an  armchair  and 
cocked  one  leg  over  the  arm  of  the  chair :  "It  is  all 
that  good-for-nothing  Hátszegi !"  he  cried.  "The 
fellow  is  a  villain,  a  scoundrel,  a  robber !" 

"What  has  he  done?" 

"What  has  he  done?"  cried  John,  leaping  to  his 
feet  again,  "I'll  tell  you.  Yesterday  he  sent  word 
to  me  by  his  broker  that  he  would  like  to  buy  those 
houses  of  ours  in  the  Széchenyi  Square  which  I 
have  offered  for  sale.  Wishing  to  save  broker's 
expenses  I  went  to  see  him  myself  at  twelve 
o'clock.  Surely  that  is  the  most  convenient  time 
for  paying  business  calls.  At  least  I  have  always 
supposed  so.  I  entered  his  ante-chamber  and  there 
stood  a  flunkey.  He  told  me  I  must  wait !  Told 
mc  forsooth — me,  John  Lapussa — that  I  must  cool 
my  heels  in  an  ante-chamber,  at  an  inn,  to  please 
that  wretched  Hátszegi.  Very  well.  I  waited.  I 
sent  him  a  message  that  I  zvoiild  wait.  Meanwhile 
I  found  I  could  not  sit  down  anywhere,  for  the 
rascal  had  piled  dirty  boots  and  brushes  on  all  the 
chairs.  Presently  the  rascal  of  a  servant  came 
back  and  told  me  that  his  master  could  not  see  me 
then,  would  I  come  back  again  in  the  afternoon — 
I,  John  Lapussa,  forsooth !  Absolutely  would  not 
speak  to  me,  but  told  me  to  come  again  another 
time!  Thou  dog,  thou  wretched  rascal!  But 
wait,  I  say,  that's  all!" 

At  this  the  old  man  also  grew  excited. 

"Why  did  you  not  box  his  ears?"  cried  he, 

"I'll  do  it,  and  do  it  well.     I'll  not  stand  it. 


l6  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

What!  send  a  Lapussa  packing!  It  cannot  be 
overlooked.  I  shall  immediately  go  and  find  two 
seconds  and  challenge  him  to  a  duel." 

"Nay,  John,  don't  do  that !  Don't  even  box  his 
ears  in  the  street,  but  give  a  street-porter  ten 
shillings  to  cudgel  him  well  as  he  comes  out  of 
the  theatre;  that  will  be  best!" 

"No,  I  will  kill  him.  I  will  shed  his  blood.  He 
who  insults  me  in  a  gentlemanly  manner  must  be 
shown  that  I  can  revenge  myself  like  a  gentle- 
man. I  will  wipe  off  the  score  with  pistols — with 
pistols  I  say." 

The  old  man  and  the  female  members  of  the 
family  were  duly  impressed  by  this  bragging,  or 
rather  all  except  Madame  Langai,  who  was  get- 
ting ready  for  the  theatre  and  took  no  notice  of 
the  general  conversation. 

Mr.  John  was  much  put  out  by  her  indiííerence. 
"Matilda,"  he  asked,  "what  do  you  say?  Ought 
I  not  to  fight,  after  such  an  insult?" 

Madame  Langai  answered  the  unavoidable 
question  with  a  cold  smile:  "I  would  only  say  that 
if  anyone  angers  you  another  time  you  had  better 
expend  your  wrath  upon  him  before  dinner,  for 
if  you  nurse  your  v^^rath  till  after  dinner  you  spoil 
the  whole  thing." 

Mr.  John  listened  to  her  in  silence  and  then  re- 
sumed his  promenade  with  his  hands  behind  his 
back  snorting  furiously.  Suddenly  he  snatched 
up  his  cap  and  rushed  out. 

"John,  John,  what  are  you  going  to  do?"  the 


BOREDOM  17 

old  man  called  after  him  in  a  supplicating  voice. 

"You'll  very  soon  see,  I'll  warrant  you,"  and 
he  banged  the  door  behind  him. 

The  old  man  turned  reproachfully  towards 
Madame  Langai.  "Why  did  you  irritate  him 
when  he  was  mad  enough  already?"  he  cried. 
"What  will  you  gain  by  his  death  ?  He  has  a  son 
who  will  inherit  everything,  you  know.  Yes, 
everything  will  belong  to  little  Maksi." 

Madame  Langai  calmly  went  on  tying  her  bon- 
net strings. 

"I  know  what  fiery  blood  he  has,"  mumbled  the 
old  man.  "When  he  is  angry  he  will  listen  to 
nobody,  and  is  capable  of  facing  a  whole  army. 
We  must  prevent  this  duel  somehow.  And  you 
are  actually  preparing  to  go  to  the  theatre  when 
things  have  come  to  such  a  pass ?  You  are  actu- 
ally going  to  see  a  comedy !" 

"The  actor  Ladislaus  plays  just  the  same  parts 
on  the  stage  as  John  does  off  the  stage,"  replied 
Madame  Langai  bitterly.  "And  I  am  as  little 
afraid  of  John's  rhodomontade  as  I  am  of  the  re- 
sult of  stage  duels.  Don't  be  afraid !  He'll  come 
to  no  harm." 

A  lacquey  now  entered  to  announce  that  the 
coach  was  ready,  and  Madame  Langai,  adjusting 
her  mantilla,  went  to  the  playhouse  where  the 
actors  were,  at  least,  amusing. 


CHAPTER  II 

A  NEW  MODE  OF  DUELLING 

Old  Lapussa  always  liked  to  have  under  his  eye, 
night  and  day,  some  one  or  other  whom  he 
could  plague  and  worry.  Till  eight  o'clock  every 
evening  he  was  fully  occupied  in  tormenting  the 
whole  family.  Then  Madame  Langai  went  to  the 
theatre  and  Henrietta  and  the  governess  had  to  sit 
down  at  the  piano  in  the  large  drawing-room  till 
it  was  time  to  put  the  child  to  bed.  But  when 
Clementina  and  the  domestics  had  had  supper  and 
there  was  no  longer  anybody  else  with  him,  the 
turn  of  the  night  nurse  began. 

The  duties  of  a  night  nurse  are  never  very  en- 
viable or  diverting  at  the  best  of  times,  yet  penal 
servitude  for  life  was  a  fate  almost  preferable  to 
being  the  nocturnal  guardian  of  old  Demetrius 
Lapussa.  The  unhappy  wretch  who  was  burdened 
with  this  heavy  charge  had  to  sit  at  Mr.  Lapussa's 
bed  from  nine  o'clock  at  night  till  early  the  fol- 
lowing morning  and  read  aloud  to  him  all  sorts 
of  things  the  whole  time.  Old  Demetrius  was  a 
very  bad  sleeper.  The  whole  night  long  he 
scarcely  slept  more  than  an  hour  at  a  time.  His 
eyes  would  only  close  when  the  droaning  voice 
of  some  one  reading  aloud  made  his  head  dizzy, 
and  then  he  would  doze  off  for  a  short  time.    But 

i8 


A  NEW  MODE  OF  DUELLING  19 

at  the  slightest  pause  he  would  instantly  awake 
and  angrily  ask  the  reader  why  he  left  off,  and 
urge  him  on  again. 

The  reader  in  question  was  a  student  more  than 
fifty  years  old,  who,  time  out  of  mind,  had  been 
making  a  living  by  fair-copying  all  sorts  of  diffi- 
cult manuscripts.  He  was  an  honest,  simple 
creature  who,  in  his  time,  had  tried  hard  to  push 
his  way  into  every  conceivable  business  and  pro- 
fession without  ever  succeeding  till,  at  last,  when 
he  was  well  over  fifty,  he  was  fortunate  enough  to 
fall  in  with  an  editor  who  happened  to  know  that 
Demetrius  Lapussa  wanted  a  reader,  and  recom- 
mended the  jDoor  devil  for  the  post.  He  knew 
Hungarian,  Latin,  and  Slovack  well  enough  to 
mix  them  all  up  together ;  German  he  could  read, 
though  he  did  not  understand  it,  but  this  was  not 
necessary,  for  he  was  not  expected  to  read  for  his 
own  edification. 

This  worthy  man,  then,  grew  prematurely  old 
in  reading,  year  out  year  in,  aloud  to  Mr. 
Demetrius,  one  after  another,  all  the  German 
translations  of  French  novels  procurable  at  Robert 
Lempel's  circulating  library  without  understand- 
ing a  single  word  of  them.  Mr.  Demetrius  had, 
naturally,  no  library  of  his  own,  for  reading  to 
him,  in  his  condition,  was  pretty  much  the  same  as 
medicine,  and  who  would  ever  think  of  keeping  a 
dispensary  on  his  own  premises  ?  1  may  add  that 
the  reader  received  free  board  and  lodging  and  ten 
florins  a  month  pocket-money  for  his  services. 


20  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

On  that  particular  night  when  Mr.  John  flung 
out  of  the  house  in  such  a  violent  rage,  Mr. 
Demetrius  was  particularly  sleepless.  I  know  not 
whether  Monte  Cristo,  the  first  volume  of  which 
honest  Margari  happened  to  be  reading  just  then, 
was  the  cause  of  this,  or  whether  it  was  due  to  the 
old  man's  nervousness  about  the  terrible  things 
John  was  likely  to  do,  but  the  fact  remains  that 
poor  Margari  on  this  occasion  got  no  respite  from 
his  labours.  At  other  times  Margari  did  manage 
to  get  a  little  relief.  Whenever  he  observed  that 
Mr.  Demetrius  was  beginning  to  draw  longer 
breaths  than  usual  he  would  let  his  head  sink  down 
on  his  book  and  fall  asleep  immediately  till  the 
awakened  tyrant  roused  him  out  of  his  slumbers 
and  made  him  go  on  again.  But  now  he  was  not 
suffered  to  have  a  moment's  peace. 

Monte  Cristo  had  already  been  sitting  in  his 
dungeon  for  some  time  when  Madame  Langai's 
carriage  returned  from  the  theatre.  Then  Mr, 
Demetrius  rang  up  the  porters  to  inquire  whether 
Mr.  John  had  also  returned  home.  No,  was  the 
answer.  At  eleven  o'clock  Mr.  John  had  still  not 
returned.  Meanwhile  Monte  Cristo's  neighbour 
had  traced  the  figure  on  the  floor  of  the  dungeon. 
Mr.  Demetrius  here  demanded  a  fuller  explana- 
tion of  the  circumstances.  "How  was  that,  Mar- 
gari?" he  enquired. 

"I  humbly  beg  your  honour's  pardon,  but  I 
don't  understand." 

''Very  well,  proceed !" 


A  NEW  MODE  OF  DUELLING         21 

Every  time  a  door  below  was  opened  or  shut, 
Mr.  Demetrius  rang  up  the  porter  to  enquire 
whether  Mr.  John  had  come  in,  to  the  intense 
aggravation  of  the  porter,  who  appeared  in  the 
door  of  the  saloon  with  a  surlier  expression  and 
his  hair  more  and  more  ruffled  on  each  occasion, 
inwardly  cursing  the  fool  of  a  student  who  had 
not  even  wit  enough  to  send  an  old  man  asleep, 
and  envying  the  other  servants  who  at  least  were 
able  to  sleep  at  night  without  interruption. 

And  still  Margari  went  on  reading. 

By  this  time  Monte  Cristo  had  had  himself 
sewn  up  in  a  sack  and  flung  into  the  sea  as  a 
corpse. 

Would  you  have  dared  to  have  that  done  to 
you,  Margari?"  interrupted  Mr.  Demetrius. 

"If  I  had  a  lot  of  money  I  might,  begging  your 
honour's  pardon,  but  a  poor  devil  like  me  is  only 
too  glad  to  live  at  any  price/'  replied  Margari, 
whose  answer  naturally  had  no  relation  whatever 
to  the  text,  not  a  word  of  which  he  understood. 

"You  are  a  simple  fellow,  Margari ;  but  go  on, 
go  on !" 

Margari  gaped  violently,  he  would  have  liked 
to  have  stretched  himself  too,  but  he  bethought 
him  in  time  that  his  coat  had  already  burst  be- 
neath his  armpits,  and  he  had  no  wish  to  make 
the  rent  still  larger,  so  he  let  it  alone  and  pro- 
ceeded with  his  bitter  labour. 

By  the  time  Monte  Cristo  had  swum  back  to 
dry  land,  Margari's  eyelids  were  almost  glued  to 


22  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

his  eyes  and  still  the  old  gentleman  showed  no  sign 
of  drowsiness.  Mr.  John's  threat  had  kept  Mr. 
Demetrius  awake  all  night,  and  consequently  had 
kept  poor  Margari  awake  too.  Once  or  twice  an 
unusually  interesting  episode  excited  the  old  man's 
attention,  and  for  the  time  he  forgot  all  about 
John's  duel — for  example,  when  Monte  Cristo 
discovered  the  enormous  treasure  on  the  island — 
and  he  would  then  rouse  up  Margari  and  make 
him  go  and  find  a  map  and  point  out  the  exact  po- 
sition of  Monte  Cristo's  island.  Margari  searched 
every  corner  of  the  sea  for  it,  and  at  last  looked  for 
it  on  the  dry  land  also  without  finding  it.  Tiring  at 
length  with  the  fruitless  search  he  proposed,  as  the 
best  way  out  of  the  difficulty,  that  he  should  write 
on  the  afternoon  of  the  following  day  to  Monsieur 
Alexander  Dumas  himself  to  explain  to  his  hon- 
our where  the  island  used  to  be  and  whether  it  still 
existed. 

"What  a  blockhead  you  are,"  said  the  old  man, 
"but  go  on,  go  on !" 

Margari  gave  a  great  sigh  and  looked  at  the 
clock  on  the  wall,  but.  alas !  it  was  still  a  long  way 
from  six  o'clock.  At  last,  however,  while  he  was 
still  reading,  the  clock  did  strike  six.  Margari 
instantly  stood  up  in  the  middle  of  a  sentence, 
marked  the  passage  with  his  thumb-nail  so  as  to 
know  at  what  word  to  begin  again  on  the  follow- 
ing evening,  turned  down  the  leaf  and  closed  the 
book. 


A  NEW  MODE  OF  DUELLING         23 

"Well!  is  that  the  end  of  it?"  enquired  Mr. 
Demetrius  in  angry  amazement. 

"I  humbly  beg  your  honour's  pardon,"  said 
Margari  with  meek  intrepidity,  "there's  nothing 
about  reading  after  six  in  our  agreement" —  and 
off  he  went.  Mr.  Demetrius  thereupon  flew  into  a 
violent  rage,  cursed  and  swore,  vowed  that  he 
would  dismiss  his  reader  on  the  spot,  and  as  the 
morning  grew  lighter  fell  into  a  deep,  death-like, 
narcotic  sleep  from  which  he  would  not  have 
awakened  if  the  house  had  come  tumbling  about 
his  ears.  When  he  did  awake,  about  ten  o'clock, 
his  first  care  was  to  make  enquiries  about  Mr. 
John.  Then  he  sent  the  porter  to  the  police  station 
to  inform  the  authorities  that  his  son  and  Mr. 
Hátszegi,  who  were  both  staying  at  the  Queen  of 
England  inn,  were  going  to  fight  a  duel,  which 
should  be  prevented  at  all  hazards.  A  police  con- 
stable, at  this  announcement,  flung  himself  into  a 
hackney-coach  and  set  off  at  full  speed  to  make  en- 
quiries. Half  an  hour  later  a  heyduke  was  sent 
back  to  the  porter  to  tell  him  that  either  the  whole 
affair  must  be  a  hoax,  as  nothing  was  known  of  a 
duel,  or  else  that  the  two  combatants  must  already 
be  dead  and  buried,  as  not  a  word  could  be  heard 
of  either  of  them.  Luckily,  towards  the  afternoon, 
IMr.  John  himself  arrived  in  a  somewhat  dazed 
condition,  like  one  who  has  been  up  drinking  all 
night.  The  members  of  the  family  were  all  sitting 
together  as  usual  in  Mr.  Demetrius's  room,  listen- 
ing in  silence  to  his  heckling,  when  the  tidings  of 


24  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

Mr.  John's  arrival  reached  him.  Demetrius  imme- 
diately summoned  him.  He  sent  back  word  at  first 
that  he  was  lying  down  to  try  to  sleep,  which  was 
an  absurd  excuse  for  even  the  richest  man  to  give 
in  the  forenoon;  on  being  summoned  a  second 
time  he  threatened  to  box  the  porter's  ears ;  only 
the  third  time,  when  Clementina  was  sent  with  the 
message  that  if  he  did  not  come  at  once,  his  sick 
father  would  come  and  fetch  him,  did  he  respond 
to  the  call  and  appear  before  them  in  a  pet. 

"Well,  thou  bloodthirsty  man,  what  has  hap- 
pened ?  What  was  the  end  of  it  ?" 

"What  has  happened?"  repeated  John  with 
monstrously  dilated  eyes.  "What  marvel  do  you 
expect  me  to  relate?" 

"Clementina,  Miss  Kleary,  Henrietta,  retire," 
cried  the  old  man;  "retire,  go  into  the  next  room. 
These  are  not  the  sort  of  things  that  children 
should  hear." 

When  they  had  all  withdrawn  except  Madame 
Langai,  Demetrius  again  questioned  his  son: 
"Now  then,  what  about  this  afifair,  this  rencontre 
with  Hátszegi;  did  you  challenge  him,  did  you 
meet  him?" 

"Eh  ?  Oh — yes !  Naturally.  Of  course  I  sought 
him  out,  I  have  only  just  come  from  him.  We 
have  been  making  a  night  of  it  together  at  the 
Queen  of  England.  I  can  honestly  say  that  he  is 
a  splendid  fellow,  a  gallant,  charming  gentleman. 
He  has  really  noble  qualities.  I  am  going  to  bring 
him  here  this  afternoon.    You  shall  all  see  him. 


A  NEW  MODE  OF  DUELLING         25 

Even  you  will  like  him,  Matilda.  But  now,  adieu, 
I  must  really  have  a  little  sleep,  we  were  drinking 
champagne  together  all  night.  Oh,  he  is  a  mag- 
nificent, a  truly  magnificent  character." 

Mr.  Demetrius  said  not  a  word  in  reply,  but  he 
compressed  his  thin  lips  and  wagged  his  head  a 
good  deal.  Nobody  made  any  observation.  Mr, 
John  was  allowed  to  go  to  bed  according  to  his 
desire.  A  little  time  after  he  had  withdrawn, 
however,  the  old  man  said  to  Madame  Langai : 
''What  are  you  doing  Matilda?" 

"I  am  trying  to  guess  a  rebus  v/hich  has  just 
appeared  in  'The  Iris.'  " 

"Don't  you  think  that  what  John  has  just  said 
is  rather  odd?" 

"I  have  not  troubled  my  head  about  it  one  way 
or  the  other." 

"I  can  see  through  it  though.  John  wants  to  pay 
off  Hátszegi  in  his  own  coin.  He  has  invited  him 
here  this  afternoon  in  order  to  keep  him  waiting 
in  the  ante-chamber,  and  then  send  him  word  that 
he  can't  see  him  till  to-morrow.  Oh!  Jack  is  a 
sly  lad,  a  very  sly  lad,  but  I  can  see  through  him. 
I  can  see  throusfh  him." 


Mr.  John  passed  the  whole  afternoon  in  his 
father's  room ;  he  did  not  even  go  to  his  club.  No 
doubt  he  was  awaiting  his  opportunity  for 
revenge.  He  amused  himself  by  sitting  down 
beside  his  niece,  stroking  her  hand,  admiring  the 


26  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

whiteness  of  her  skin,  and,  drawing  the  governess 
into  the  conversation,  enquired  how  Henrietta  was 
getting  on  with  her  studies,  whether  she  had  still 
much  to  learn  in  English  and  French,  and  whether 
she  was  not,  by  this  time,  quite  a  virtuoso  at  the 
piano.  He  insinuated  at  the  same  time  that  it 
would  be  just  as  well,  perhaps,  if  she  made  haste 
to  learn  all  that  was  necessary  as  soon  as  possible, 
because  she  was  no  longer  a  child,  and  when  once 
a  woman  is  married  slie  has  not  very  much  time 
for  study. 

"By  the  way,  Henrietta,"  he  added  suddenly, 
"have  you  chosen  a  lover  yet  ?" 

Henrietta  was  too  much  afraid  of  him  even  to 
blush  at  this  question,  she  only  glanced  at  him 
with  timid,  suspicious  eyes  and  said  nothing. 

"Don't  be  afraid,  sisterkin,"  continued  Mr. 
John  encouragingly.  "I'll  bring  you  such  a  nice 
bridegroom  that  even  your  grandpapa,  when  he 
sees  him,  will  snatch  up  his  crutches  in  order  to  go 
and  meet  him  half-way."  Here  the  old  man 
growled  something  which  John  smothered  with  a 
laugh.  "Yes,  and  if  he  won't  give  you  up  we'll 
carry  you  off  by  force." 

Henrietta  shuddered  once  or  twice  at  her  uncle's 
blandishments,  like  one  who  has  to  swallow  a 
loathsome  medicine  and  has  caught  a  whiff  of  it 
beforehand. 

The  porter  interrupted  this  cheerful  family  chat 
by  announcing  that  his  lordship  Baron  Hátszegi 
wished  to  pay  his  respects  to  Mr.  Lapussa. 


A  NEW  MODE  OF  DUELLING         2^ 

Mr.  Demetrius  immediately  raised  himself  on 
his  elbows  to  read  from  Mr.  John's  features  what 
he  was  going  to  do.  Would  he  tell  the  lacqueys  to 
turn  Hátszegi  out  of  the  house?  or  would  he  send 
him  word  to  wait  in  the  ante-chamber,  as  he  him- 
self had  waited  at  Hátszegi's,  and  then  put  him  off 
till  the  morrow?  Oh!  John  would  be  sure  to  do 
something  of  the  sort,  for  a  very  proud  fellow  was 
John. 

But,  so  far  from  doing  any  of  these  things,  Mr. 
John  rushed  to  the  door  to  meet  the  arriving 
guest  and  greeted  him  aloud  from  afar  in  the  most 
obliging,  not  to  say  obsequious,  terms,  bidding 
him  come  in  without  ceremony  and  not  make  a 
stranger  of  himself.  And  with  that  he  passed  his 
arm  through  the  arm  of  his  distinguished  guest 
and,  radiant  with  joy,  drew  him  into  the  midst  of 
the  domestic  sanctum  sanctorum  and  presenting 
him  in  a  voice  that  trembled  with  emotion:  "His 
lordship.  Baron  Leonard  Hátszegi,  my  very  dear 
friend!" 

And  then  he  was  guilty  of  the  impropriety  of 
introducing  his  guest  first  of  all  to  his  father  and 
his  niece,  simply  because  they  happened  to  be  the 
nearest,  only  afterward  he  bethought  him  of  turn- 
ing towards  Matilda  to  introduce  her,  whereupon 
Matilda's  face  assumed  a  stony  expression  like 
that  of  the  marble  maiden  in  Zampa.  to  the  great 
confusion  of  John,  who  felt  bound  to  enquire  in  a 
half-whisper:  "Why,  what's  the  matter?" 

"You  dolt,"  she  whispered  back,  "have  you  not 


28  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

learnt  yet  that  the  lady  of  the  house  should  be  in- 
troduced to  her  guests  not  last,  but  first?" 

John's  first  impulse  was  to  be  shocked,  his 
second  was  to  be  furious,  but  finally  he  thought  it 
best  to  turn  with  a  smile  to  Baron  Hátszegi,  who 
courteously  helped  him  out  of  his  embarrassment 
by  observing:  "It  is  my  privilege  to  be  able  to 
greet  your  ladyship  as  an  old  acquaintance 
already.  Many  a  time  have  I  had  the  opportunity 
of  secretly  admiring  you  in  your  box  at  the 
theatre." 

"Pray  be  seated,  sir.    .    .     I" 


CHAPTER  III 

AN  AMIABLE  MAN 

Baron  Hatszegi  was  certainly  a  very  amiable 
man.  He  had  a  handsome  face  full  of  manly  pride, 
sparkling  eyes,  and  a  powerful  yet  elegant  figure. 
He  moved  and  spoke  with  graceful  ease,  bore  him- 
self nobly,  picked  his  words — in  short,  was  a  per- 
fect gentleman.  Mr.  Demetrius  was  quite  taken 
with  him,  although  Hátszegi  hardly  exchanged  a 
word  with  him,  naturally  devoting  himself  princi- 
pally to  the  widowed  lady  who  played  the  part  of 
hostess.  What  the  conversation  was  really  about 
nobody  distinctly  recollected — the  usual  common- 
places no  doubt,  balls,  soirees,  horse-racing. 
Henrietta  took  no  part  in  the  talk ;  Mr.  John,  on 
the  other  hand,  had  a  word  to  say  on  every  sub- 
ject, and,  although  nobody  paid  any  attention  to 
him,  he  enjoyed  himself  vastly. 

When  Hátszegi  had  departed,  John,  with  a 
beaming  face,  asked  Madame  Langai  what  she 
thougtit  of  the  young  man. 

Instead   of   replying,    Madame   Langai   asked 
what  had  induced  him  to  bring  him  there. 
"Well,  but  he's  a  splendid  fellow,  isn't  he?" 
"You  said  yesterday  that  he  was  a  vagabond." 
"I  said  so,  I  know,  but  it  is  not  true." 
"You  said,  too,  that  he  was  a  robber." 
29 


30  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

"What !  I  said  that  ?  Impossible.  I  didn't  say 
that." 

Old  Demetrius  here  intervened  as  a  peacemaker. 

"You  said  it,  John,  you  did  indeed;  but  you 
were  angry,  and  at  such  times  a  man  says  more 
than  he  means." 

"So  far  from  being  a  robber  or  a  vagabond,"  re- 
plied John,  "he  is  one  of  the  principal  landowners 
in  the  Hátszegi  district.  How  could  I  have  said 
such  things !  He  has  a  castle  that  is  like  a  fortress. 
He  is  like  a  prince,  a  veritable  prince  in  his  own 
domains.  He  is  just  like  a  petty  sovereign.  I  must 
have  been  downright  mad  to  call  him  a  vaga- 
bond.    .     .     ." 

"Yet,  yesterday,  you  would  have  called  him 
out,"  continued  Madame  Langai  teasingly. 

"Yes,  I  was  angry  with  him  then,  but  there  are 
circumstances  which  may  reconcile  a  couple  of 
would-be  duellists,  are  there  not?" 

"Oh,  certainly,  if  a  man  is  a  man  of  business 
before  all  things,  or  has  perhaps  a  valuable  house 
or  two  on  his  hands." 

"This  has  nothing  to  do  with  business  or  sell- 
ing houses.  If  you  must  know,"  he  continued, 
lowering  his  voice,  "it  is  about  something  entirely 
different,  but  of  the  very  greatest  importance." 

"Indeed?"  returned  Madame  Langai,  "a  new 
Alexander  the  Great,  I  suppose,  who  has  gone 
forth  to  conquer,  and  who  has  come  to  look  not  for 
a  house,  but  for  a  house  and  home  perhaps  ?" 

She  thought  to  herself  that  it  was  some  ad  ven- 


AN  AMIABLE  MAN  3 1 

turer  whom  her  brother  John  would  palm  off  upon 
her  as  a  husband  so  as  to  get  her  away  from  the 
old  man. 

"Something  of  the  sort,"  replied  John.  "Yes, 
you  have  guessed  half — but  the  wrong  half." 

"I  am  glad  to  hear  it." 

"Ah!"  put  in  the  old  man  sarcastically, 
Matilda  will  never  marry  again,  I'm  sure;  she 
loves  her  old  dad  too  much  and  feels  far  too  happy 
at  home  to  do  that." 

"Ho,  ho,  ho !"  laughed  John  scornfully,  "I  did 
not  mean  Matilda,  I  was  not  thinking  of  her.  Ho, 
ho,  ho !  Madame  Langai  imagines  that  she  is  tho 
only  person  in  the  house  whose  hand  can  be  wooed, 
and  won." 

Dame  Langai,  with  a  shrug,  looked  incredu- 
lously round  the  room  to  see  if  there  was  anybody- 
else  who  could  possibly  become  the  object  of  th( 
baron's  sighs.  All  at  once  her  eyes  accidentally 
encountered  those  of  Henrietta,  and  immediately 
she  knew  even  more  than  her  brother  Joliri  did. 
For  she  now  clearly  understood  three  things  :  the 
first  was  that  Henrietta  had  taken  in  John's  mean^ 
ing  more  quickly  than  she  had  done,  the  second 
was  that  Jolin  had  brought  the  suitor  to  the  house 
on  Henrietta's  account,  and  the  third  was  that 
Henrietta  loathed  the  man. 

She  at  once  bade  Miss  Kleary  give  Henrietta  an 
extra  lesson  on  the  piano  in  the  adjoining  room, 
and  when  they  had  taken  her  at  her  word  and  dis- 


32  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

appeared,  she  said  to  John  in  her  usual  quiet, 
mincing  tone : 

"You  surely  do  not  mean  to  give  Henrietta  to 
that  man  ?" 

"Why  not,  pray?" 

"Because  she  is  still  a  mere  child,  a  mere  school- 
girl ;  five  years  hence  it  will  be  quite  time  enough 
to  provide  her  with  a  husband." 

"But  the  girl  is  sixteen  if  she  is  a  day." 

"Yes,  and  delicate,  sickly,  and  nervous." 

"She  will  soon  be  well  enough  when  she  is 
married." 

"And  who,  may  I  ask,  is  this  suitor  of  yours.  Is 
it  not  your  duty,  Demetrius  Lapussa,  as  the  girl's 
grandfather,  to  make  the  fullest  enquiries  about 
any  man  who  may  sue  for  your  grand-daughter's 
hand  ?  Is  it  not  your  duty,  I  say,  to  find  out  who 
and  what  he  is  and  everything  relating  to  him? 
For  brother  John  may  be  very  much  mistaken  in 
fancying  his  dear  friend  to  be  a  wealthy  and  amia- 
ble nobleman.  Whether  he  be  amiable  or  not  does 
not  concern  you  personally,  I  know;  but  you 
ought  certainly  to  know  how  he  stands,  for  he  may 
have  castles  and  mansions  and  yet  be  up  to  the 
very  ears  in  debt.  In  such  a  case  if  he  is  a  noble- 
man so  much  the  worse  for  you :  for  he  will  then 
have  all  the  greater  claim  upon  you.  It  may  cost 
you  dearly  to  admit  a  ruined  baron  into  the  bosom 
of  your  family." 

John  grew  yellow  with  rage:  "How  dare  you 


AN  AMIABLE  MAN  33 

talk  like  that  of  anyone  you  do  not  know?"  he 
cried. 

"Then,  do  you  know  him  any  better?" 

But  here  the  old  man  intervened : 

"You're  a  fool,  John,"  said  he.  "Matilda  is 
right.  I  will  send  for  my  lawyer,  Mr.  Sipos.  He 
understands  all  about  such  things  and  will  advise 
us  in  the  matter.  .We  must  find  out  how  the 
baron  stands." 


CHAPTER  IV 

CHILDISH  NONSENSE 

Meanwhile  Hátszegi  continued  to  call  every 
day,  dividing  his  attention  equally  between  the 
widow  and  Henrietta;  and  at  the  end  of  a  fort- 
night everyone  was  charmed  with  his  personal 
qualities.  It  could  not  be  denied  that  he  was  a  de- 
lightful companion,  always  merry,  lively,  frank, 
and  entertaining.  He  even  made  the  old  gentle- 
man laugh  aloud  more  than  once;  in  fact 
Demetrius  Lapussa  grew  quite  impatient  if 
Hátszegi  was  five  minutes  late.  Mr.  John  was 
more  delighted  with  him  than  ever.  They  took 
walks  together,  invariably  drove  in  the  same 
carriage  to  the  park,  and  John  was  to  be  seen 
every  night  in  the  baron's  box  at  the  theatre, 
talking  at  the  top  of  his  voice  so  that  everybody 
might  become  aware  of  the  fact.  Nay,  he  suc- 
ceeded, through  the  courtesy  of  his  new  friend,  in 
making  the  acquaintance  of  one  or  two  magnates 
who  subsequently  lifted  their  hats  to  John  in  the 
street  and  thus  gratified  the  dearest  desire  of  his 
heart. 

The  enquiries  made  about  Hátszegi  also  proved 
extremely  satisfactory.  He  was  certainly  sound 
and  solid  financially,  had  never  had  a  bill  dishon- 
oured, had  no  dealings  with  usurers,  always  paid 

34 


CHILDISH  NONSENSE  35 

cash  and  was  never  even  in  temporary  embarrass- 
ment, as  is  so  often  the  case  with  most  landed 
proprietors  when  the  crops  fail.  In  fact,  he 
seemed  to  have  unlimited  funds  constantly  at  his 
disposal  and  to  be  scarcely  less  wealthy  than  old 
Lnpussa  himself. 

So  far  then,  everything  was  as  it  should  be,  and 
everyone  was  enchanted  with  him  personally. 

But  what  of  Henrietta,  the  intended  bride  ? 

Oh !  she  was  not  even  consulted  in  the  matter ; 
it  is  not  usual,  and  besides  she  had  neither  mind 
nor  will  enough  to  have  a  voice  in  so  important  a 
matter  as  the  disposal  of  her  hand.  Nay,  she  was 
not  even  told  that  she  was  going  to  be  married. 
She  only  got  an  inkling  of  it  from  various  phe- 
nomena that  struck  her  from  time  to  time,  such  as 
the  polite  attentions  of  the  baron,  the  whispering 
of  the  domestics,  the  altered  attitude  towards  her 
of  the  various  members  of  the  family — who  now 
addressed  her  in  the  tone  you  employ  when  speak- 
ing to  a  baroness  that  is  to  be.  And  then  there  was 
Clementina's  chatter!  Clementina  was  now  for 
ever  talking  of  all  the  sewing  and  stitching  that 
had  to  be  done  for  the  young  lady,  and  of  the 
frightful  quantities  of  linen  and  lace  and  silk  that 
were  being  made  up  into  dresses  and  other  gar- 
ments. Six  seamstresses  were  hard  at  work,  she 
said,  and  she  was  helping  them  and  yet  they  had 
to  make  night  into  day  in  order  to  get  the  neces- 
sary things  ready  in  time. 

So  gradually  they  accustomed  her  to  the  idea  of 


36  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

it,  till  at  last  one  day  Madame  Langai  took  her 
aside  and  lectured  her  solemnly  as  to  the  duties  of 
women  in  general  and  of  women  of  rank  in  par- 
ticular, pointing  out  at  the  same  time  how  much 
such  women  owed  to  their  own  families  for  look- 
ing after  and  providing  for  them  and  expressing 
the  hope  that  Henrietta  would  be  duly  grateful  to 
the  end  of  her  days  to  her  family — from  all  which 
she  was  able  to  gather  that  any  opposition  on  her 
part  would  not  be  tolerated  for  a  moment. 

The  day  was  already  fixed  for  the  exchange  of 
the  bridal  rings,  but  the  night  before  that  day, 
Henrietta  suddenly  fell  ill,  and,  what  is  more,  dan- 
gerously ill,  so  that  they  had  to  run  oi¥  for  the 
family  physician  incontinently.  The  doctor  was 
much  struck  by  the  symptoms  of  the  illness  and 
the  first  thing  he  did  was  to  make  the  patient 
swallow  a  lot  of  milk  and  oil.  Then  he  drove  the 
servants  headlong  to  the  chemist's,  and  descending 
into  the  kitchen  closely  examined  every  copper 
vessel  there  by  candle  light,  scolded  the  cook  and 
the  scullery  maids  till  they  were  in  tears,  and  terri- 
fied Clementina  by  telling  her  she  was  the  cause  of 
it  all  to  the  speechless  confusion  of  the  innocent 
creature.  Not  content  with  this,  he  made  his  way 
at  once  to  Mr.  Demetrius's  room  and  there  cross- 
examined  everyone  with  the  acerbity  of  an  Old 
Bailey  judge.  What  had  the  young  lady  been 
in  the  habit  of  eating  and  drinking?  They  must 
fetch  what  had  been  left  over  from  her  meals,  he 
must  see  and  examine  everything.     What  had  she 


CHILDISH  NONSENSE  37 

eaten  yesterday  evening  ?  Preserves  ?  Then  what 
sort  of  sugar  was  used,  and  where  was  the  spoon  ? 
He  insisted  on  seeing  everything. 

"But  doctor,"  whined  old  Lapussa,  ''you  surely 
don't  mean  to  say  that  the  child  has  been  poi- 
soned?" 

"I  do  indeed,  and  with  copper  oxide  too." 

"How  is  that  possible?" 

"Why,  simply  because  some  of  her  food,  pre- 
serve, for  instance,  has  been  allowed  to  stand  too 
long  in  a  copper  or  silver  vessel  and  copperas  has 
been  developed." 

The  old  man  did  not  know  enough  of  chemistry 
to  understand  how  copperas  could  be  developed 
from  silver,  but  he  was  seriously  alarmed. 

"I  hope  there's  no  danger?"  said  he. 

"It  is  a  good  job  you  sent  for  me  when  you 
did,"  replied  the  doctor,  "for  otherwise  she  would 
have  been  dead  before  morning.  Copperas  is  a 
very  dangerous  poison,  and  if  it  gets  into  one's 
food  in  large  quantities  there  is  practically  no  anti- 
dote. A  vigorous  constitution,  indeed,  has  a  good 
chance  of  throwing  it  off ;  but,  taking  into  consid- 
eration the  state  of  the  young  lady's  nerves  and 
her  general  debility,  I  should  say  that  her  case  was 
downright  dangerous;  anyhow  she  will  be  ailing 
for  some  time." 

"Oh,  doctor,  doctor!  and  we  all  love  Hetty  so 
much,  she  is  the  very  light  of  our  eyes !  I  cannot 
tell  you  how  anxious  I  am,  on  her  account  I  should 
be  so  glad,  doctor,  if  you  could  stay  with  her  night 


38  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

and  day  and  never  leave  the  house.  I  would  richly 
recompense  you," 

"I  will  do  all  I  can,  though  I  can't  do  that,  and 
unless  any  unforeseen  accident  arise,  I  think  I  can 
answer  for  the  result.  But  one  thing  I  must  insist 
upon,  all  these  copper  and  silver  vessels  of  yours 
must  go  to  the  devil.  I'll  come  to-morrow  and 
examine  thoroughly  the  whole  lot  of  them  by  day- 
light. The  health  of  the  family  must  not  be 
endangered  by  such  recklessness.  And  let  me  tell 
your  honour  something  else.  Are  you  aware  that 
your  honour's  business-man,  Mr.  Sipos,  who  is 
only  a  lawyer  and,  therefore,  can  ill  afford  to  do  so 
in  comparison  with  your  honour,  are  you  aware, 
I  say,  that  he  has  on  this  very  occasion  sent  all  his 
copper  vessels  to  the  lumber-room?" 

"On  this  occasion!  what  do  you  mean?"  en- 
quired the  old  man  eagerly. 

"I  mean  that  I  have  just  come  from  him  and  a 
similar  case  has  happened  in  his  house.  His 
assistant — a  fine  young  fellow,  you  know  him, 
perhaps? — ^lias  also  been  poisoned  by  copperas. 
I  have  only  this  instant  quitted  him." 

"What  an  odd  coincidence." 

"Very  odd,  indeed.  Two  exactly  similar  cases 
of  poisoning  at  the  same  time  and  all  because  cop- 
per vessels  were  used  and  not  properly  cleaned." 

"And  how  is  the  young  man  progressing?  Is  he 
out  of  danger?" 

"Fortunately ;  although  at  the  outset  his  was  an 
even  worse  case  than  the  young  lady's.   But  then 


CHILDISH  NONSENSE  39 

he  is  so  much  stronger.  Well,  good-bye !  I  will 
look  in  again  to-morrow." 

"But  I  should  be  so  much  easier,  doctor,  if  you 
never  left  my  grandchild's  side." 

"I  would  willingly  do  even  that  if  I  had  not 
other  patients  in  the  town  to  attend  to." 

''Could  you  not  entrust  them  to  someone  else?" 

"Impossible.  My  reputation  would  be  at  stake. 
Besides  I  do  not  often  have  the  chance  of  studying 
two  such  interesting  parallel  cases  of  poisoning  at 
the  same  time." 

"Very  well,  doctor.  All  I  ask  of  you  is  to  cure 
our  little  one." 

"I  hope  to  save  the  pair  of  them.  And  now  I'll 
go  up  and  have  a  look  at  her,  and  then  I  must 
return  to  Mr.  Sipos's  house.  But  I  shall  be  here 
again  in  an  hour  or  so." 

And  with  that  the  old  man  had  to  be  content. 

During  the  whole  course  of  Henrietta's  illness 
he  sent  to  enquire  after  his  grandchild  every  hour. 
Clementina  and  an  old  maid-servant  took  it  in 
turns  to  watch  by  her  bedside.  It  was  strictly  for- 
bidden to  leave  Henrietta  alone  for  an  instant,  and 
Mr.  Demetrius  gave  special  orders  that  her 
brother  Koloman  was  not  to  be  allowed  to  ap- 
proach within  six  paces  of  her  bed  because  he  was 
sure  to  bring  cold  air  into  the  room,  or  convey  to 
her  surreptitiously  something  which  she  ought  not 
to  have  and  behave  like  a  blockhead  generally.  So 
he  was  obliged  to  keep  his  distance. 

At  last  when  weeks  and  weeks  had  flown  by, 


40  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

God  and  blessed  nature  helped  the  doctor  to 
triumph  over  the  effects  of  the  poison,  Henrietta 
slowly  began  to  mend.  She  was  still  very  weak, 
but  the  doctor  assured  them  that  she  was  quite  out 
of  danger  and  that  the  little  capricious  fancies  of 
convalescence  might  now  be  safely  humoured. 

Madame  Langai,  in  the  doctor's  presence,  asked 
the  sick  girl  whether  there  was  anything  in  par- 
ticular she  would  like,  any  food  she  fancied,  any 
pastime  she  preferred. 

The  pale,  delicate-looking  child  languidly  cast 
down  her  eyes  as  if  she  would  say :  "I  should  like 
to  lie  in  the  grave — deep,  deep,  down."  But  what 
she  really  did  say  was:  "I  should  like  to  read 
something.     I  feel  so  dull." 

"That  I  cannot  allow,"  said  the  doctor,  "it 
would  make  your  head  ache,  but  I  have  no  objec- 
tion to  someone  reading  to  you  some  nice,  amusing 
novel,  Dickens's  "Pickwick  Papers,"  for  instance, 
or  a  story  of  Marryat's,  something  light  and 
amusing,  I  mean,  which  will  not  excite  you  too 
much." 

"I  should  like  that,"  said  Henrietta  and  the 
choice  fell  on  the  "Pickwick  Papers."  But  as  the 
English  governess  complained  that  she  could 
never  read  aloud  for  ten  minutes  at  a  time  without 
growing  hoarse  and  Clementina's  eyes  were  too 
weak  for  any  such  office,  it  was  suggested  that 
Margari  should  be  asked  to  submit  to  this  extra 
sacrifice,  and  Clementina  succeeded  in  persuading 
him  to  do  so  by  promising  him  a  liberal  reward. 


CHILDISH  NONSENSE  41 

So  she  brought  him  back  with  her  and  seated  him 
behind  a  curtain  so  that  he  could  not  see  the 
invahd  (that  would  have  been  scarcely  proper), 
and  put  the  book  into  his  hand. 

But  scarcely  had  Margari  struggled  through  a 
few  lines  when  Henrietta,  again  became  fidgety 
and  said  she  longed  for  something  to  eat.  The 
good-natured  Clementina  jumped  with  joy  at  this 
sign  of  returning  appetite,  and  asked  her  what  she 
would  like  and  how  she  would  like  it.  Henrietta 
thereupon  directed  her  to  have  prepared  a  soup 
of  such  a  complicated  character  (only  the  morbid 
imagination  of  an  invalid  could  have  conceived 
such  a  monstrosity),  that  Clementina  felt  obliged 
to  descend  to  the  kitchen  herself  to  superintend  its 
concoction  herself,  for  it  was  certain  that  any 
servant  would  have  forgotten  half  the  ingredients 
before  she  could  get  down  stairs. 

Scarcely  had  Clementina  shut  the  door  behind 
her  when  Henrietta  interrupted  Margari's  elocu- 
tion. 

''For  Heaven's  sake,  come  nearer  to  me,"  she 
said,  "1  want  to  speak  to  you." 

The  worthy  man  was  so  frightened  by  this  un- 
expected summons  that  he  had  half  a  mind  to  rush 
out  and  call  for  assistance.  He  fancied  that  the 
young  lady  had  become  delirious — it  was  such  an 
odd  thing  to  ask  him  to  draw  nearer.  But  the  sick 
girl,  pressing  together  her  trembling  hands,  looked 
at  him  so  piteously  that  he  could  hesitate  no  longer 
but  approached  her  bedside. 


42  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

Henrietta  did  not  scruple  to  sieze  the  hand  of 
the  embarrassed  gentleman. 

"For  God's  sake,  help  me,  my  good  Margari," 
she  whispered.  "I  am  plagued  by  an  anxiety 
which  prevents  me  from  closing  my  eyes.  Even 
here  when  I  sleep  it  follows  me  into  my  dreams. 
You  can  free  me  from  it.  In  you  alone  have  I  con- 
fidence. You  suffer  in  this  house  as  much  as  I  do. 
You  have  no  cause  to  torment  or  persecute  me. 
Will  you  do  what  I  ask  you,  my  dear,  good 
Margari  ?" 

It  occurred  to  Margari  that  the  young  lady  was 
wandering  in  her  mind,  so  to  humour  her,  he 
promised  to  do  whatever  she  asked  him  without 
hesitation. 

"I  will  be  very  good  to  you,  I  will  never  forget 
all  my  life  long  the  kindness  you  are  about  to  do 
me." 

"Your  humble  servant.  Miss!  but  you  have 
always  been  good  to  me.  As  far  as  I  can  remem- 
ber, while  the  others  took  a  delight  in  vexing  me, 
you  were  the  only  one  who  always  took  my  part.  I 
don't  forget  that  either.  Command  me !  I  will  go 
through  fire  and  water  for  you." 

"Look,  then !"  said  the  girl,  drawing  from  her 
bosom  a  little  key  attached  to  a  black  cord,  "this  is 
the  key  of  my  toilet  casket.  Open  it  and  you  will 
find  a  bundle  of  documents  tied  together  with  a 
blue  ribbon,  take  them.  All  through  my  illness  I 
trembled  at  the  thought  that  they  might  ransack 
my  things  and  find  them,  and  when  I  came  to 


CHILDISH  NONSENSE  43 

myself  I  was  worrying  myself  with  the  idea  that  I 
might  perhaps  have  spoken  about  these  papers  in 
my  delirium.  Oh !  it  would  have  been  frightful  if 
my  relations  had  seized  them.  Take  them,  quickly, 
before  Clementina  returns.  I  must  conceal  every- 
thing, even  from  her." 

Margari  accomplished  the  task  with  tolerable 
dexterity.  He  only  broke  the  looking-glass  while 
he  was  opening  the  casket,  and  that  was  little 
enough  for  him.  There  the  documents  were  right 
enough,  nicely  tied  together. 

And  then  Henrietta  seized  his  hand  and  pressed 
it  so  warmly  and  looked  at  him  with  her  lovely, 
piteous,  imploring  eyes — a  very  lunatic  might 
have  been  healed  by  such  a  look. 

"I  know  you  for  an  honourable  man,"  continued 
she,  "promise  me  not  to  look  at  these  papers, 
but  give  them  to  my  brother  Koloman,  he  will 
know  what  to  do  with  them.  You  will  do  this  for 
my  sake,  dear  Margari,  will  you  not  ?  It  is  just  as 
though  one  of  the  dead  were  to  come  back  to  you 
from  the  world  beyond  the  grave  and  implore  you, 
with  desperate  supplications,  to  free  its  soul  from 
a  thought  which  rested  upon  it  like  a  curse  and 
would  not  let  it  rest  in  the  grave." 

Margari  shuddered  at  these  words.  A  corpse 
that  returns  from  the  world  beyond  the  grave! 
This  young  gentlewoman  certainly  had  a  terrify- 
ing imagination.  Nevertheless  he  swore  by  his 
hope  of  salvation  that  he  would  not  bestow  a 


44  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

glance  upon  the  papers,  but  would  give  them  to 
young  Koloman. 

"Hide  them,  pray !" 

And  indeed  it  was  high  time  that  he  should  be- 
stow them  in  the  well-like  pocket  of  his  long  coat, 
for  Clementina's  steps  were  already  audible  in  the 
adjoining  chamber.  When  she  appeared,  however, 
he  was  sitting  behind  the  curtain  again,  reading 
away  as  if  nothing  had  happened. 

When  the  clock  struck  four,  at  which  time 
Koloman  usually  returned  from  school,  Henrietta 
said  to  Margari  that  she  had  had  enough  of 
romance-reading  for  that  day,  but  thanked  him  for 
his  kindness  and  asked  him  to  come  again  on  the 
morrow  if  he  would  be  so  good.  Margari  pro- 
tested that  he  should  consider  it  the  highest 
honour,  the  greatest  joy.  He  would  willingly  read 
even  English  to  her,  if  she  liked,  and  without  any 
special  honorarium  either,  and  then  off  he  went  to 
seek  young  Koloman. 

Now  it  so  happened  that  young  Koloman  did 
not  come  home  at  the  usual  time  that  day,  and 
Margari  after  looking  for  him  in  vain  became  very 
curious  as  to  the  contents  of  the  packet  entrusted 
to  him.  What  sort  of  mysterious  letters  could  they 
be  which  Miss  Henrietta  was  afraid  of  falling  into 
the  hands  of  her  family.  Hum!  how  nice  it 
would  be  to  find  out ! 

The  packet  was  tied  up — naturally !  But  it  was 
possible  to  undo  and  then  retie  the  knots  in  just 
the  same  way  as  before,  so  that  nobody  would  be 


CHILDISH  NONSENSE  45 

any  the  wiser.  To  an  honourable  man,  indeed,  the 
mere  knowledge  that  another's  secret  was  con- 
cealed therein  which  he  was  bidden  to  guard 
would  have  been  as  invincible  an  impediment  as 
unbreakable  bolts  and  bars ;  but  the  worthy  fellow 
reassured  himself  with  the  reflection  that,  after  all, 
he  was  not  going  to  tell  anybody  the  contents  of 
these  documents,  and  he  so  very  much  longed  to 
know  what  it  could  be  that  Miss  Henrietta  was  so 
anxious  to  hide  away,  and  old  Lapussa  would  so 
much  like  to  find  out.  As  if  he  would  ever  betray 
the  secret  of  such  a  nice,  kindly  creature  to  such 
an  old  dragon !  Why,  he  would  rather  have  his 
tongue  torn  out  than  betray  it! — but  know  it  he 
must  and  would ! 

So  he  locked  himself  up  in  his  little  room  on  ■ 
the  third  storey,  and  very  cautiously  opened  the 
bundle  which  was  enwrapped  in  I  know  not  how 
many  folds  of  paper   and   greedily  devoured  the 
contents  of  the  various  documents. 

But  how  great  was  his  fury  when,  instead  of  the 
expected  secrets,  he  found  nothing  but  dull  Latin 
exercises,  wearisome  rhetorical  commonplaces  on 
such  subjects  as  the  charms  of  spring  and  summer, 
the  excellence  of  agriculture,  the  advantages 
of  knowledge,  the  danger  of  the  passions,  and 
similar  interesting  themes.  He  was  just  about 
to  tie  the  bundle  up  again,  when  it  occurred  to 
him  to  read  one  of  these  tiresome  dissertations  to 
the  end,  just  to  see  what  sort  of  style  the  young 
scholar   affected.      And    now    a    great    surprise 


46  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

awaited  him,  for  he  found  that  after  the  first  five 
or  six  Hnes  the  theme  suddenly  broke  off  and  there 
followed  something  altogether  different,  which 
though  also  written  in  the  Latin  tongue  had  noth- 
ing whatever  to  do,  either  with  the  beauties  of 
spring  or  the  excellencies  of  agriculture,  but  was, 
nevertheless,  of  the  most  interesting  and  engross- 
ing character. 

Now,  indeed,  he  read  every  one  of  the  exercises 
from  beginning  to  end,  and,  when  he  had  done  so, 
he  clearly  perceived  that  if  old  Demetrius  Lapussa 
had  very  particular  reasons  for  ferreting  out  these 
things.  Miss  Henrietta  had  still  greater  reason  for 
concealing  them. 

After  having  neatly  tied  up  the  packet  again,  he 
bethought  him  what  he  had  better  do  next.  Miss 
Henrietta  had  confided  the  secret  to  his  safe-keep- 
ing, but  Mr.  Demetrius  had  commanded  him  to 
keep  an  eye  upon  Koloman  and  his  Latin  exercises 
— which  of  them  had  the  best  right  to  command  in 
that  house  ?  But  was  it  right  to  divulge  a  secret  ? 
Ah !  that  was  another  question.  It  is  true  that,  as 
a  general  rule,  it  is  wrong  to  betray  secrets ;  yet,  it 
is  nevertheless  true,  that  to  betray  a  secret  that 
ought  to  be  known  is  at  least  justifiable.  More- 
over, was  it  not  a  Christian  duty  to  let  the 
grandfather  know  as  soon  as  possible  what  extra- 
ordinary things  his  granddaughter  was  turning 
over  in  her  noddle?  And  finally — there  was 
money  in  it! — good  solid  cash!  If  old  Lapussa 
did  not  choose  to  pay  a  price  for  it,  and  a  liberal 


CHILDISH  NONSENSE  47 

price  too,  he  should  be  told  nothing  at  all  and 
Margari  would  show  the  old  miser  that  he  had 
a  man  of  character  to  deal  with.  For  after  all 
poor  Margari  had  to  live,  and  this  was  worth  as 
much  as  a  thousand  florins  to  him  or  its  equivalent 
anyhow.  Surely  Miss  Henrietta  could  not  be  so 
unreasonable  as  to  expect  poor  Margari  to  chuck 
such  a  piece  of  good  fortune  out  of  the  window, 
especially  as  she  had  given  him  nothing  herself. 

At  that  moment  someone  knocked  at  the  door 
and  enquired  whether  Mr.  Margari  was  there. 

Margari  was  so  frightened  that  he  bawled  out : 
"No,  I  am  not!" — so  of  course  he  was  obliged  to 
open  the  door,  but  he  concealed  the  packet  of 
letters  in  his  pocket  first. 

It  was  the  lacquey  who  came  to  ask  whether 
Mr.  Margari  was  aware  that  it  was  past  seven 
o'clock ;  he  must  come  and  read  to  the  old  gentle- 
man. 

Margari  could  not  endure  to  hear  the  domestics 
speaking  to  him  familiarly. 

"Seven  o'clock!  What  do  you  mean?"  said  he. 
"Am  I  bound  to  know  when  it  is  seven  o'clock? 
Am  I  a  clockmaker  or  a  bell-ringer?  If  your 
master  wants  me  to  know  what  a  clock  it  is,  let 
him  send  me,  not  a  lacquey,  but  a  gold  repeater 
watch !" 

And  salving  his  wounded  dignity  with  these  and 
similar  effusions,  Margari  trotted  alongside  the 
lacquey  to  the  room  of  Mr.  Demetrius,  to  whom 
he  immediately  notified  the  change  in  the  situation 


48  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

by  sinking  down  into  a  soft  and  cosey  arm-chair 
instead  of  sitting  down  on  the  edge  of  the  hard 
leather-chair,  expressly  provided  for  him. 

Demetrius  measured  him  from  head  to  foot 
with  his  terrible  eagle  eyes  and  observed  in  an 
even  more  stridently  moral  voice  than  usual : 
"Well,  Margari,  when  are  we  going  to  have  our 
novel  reading?" 

"We  will  have  our  reading  presently,  but  it 
won't  be  a  novel  to-day." 

"What  do  you  mean,  sir?" 

"I  humbly  beg  to  remind  your  honour  that  you 
were  pleased  to  commission  me  to  lay  hands  upon 
certain  Latin  exercises  of  your  grandson  Kolo- 
man.  I  humbly  beg  to  inform  you  that  they  are 
now  in  my  possession." 

"Oh !"  said  old  Lapussa,  with  a  forced  assump- 
tion of  sang  froid,  "you  may  give  them  to  me 
to-morrow,  I  will  look  them  through." 

"Crying  your  honour's  pardon,  they  are  in 
Latin." 

"Well,  I  can  get  someone  to  look  them  through 
for  me." 

"I  beg  humbly  to  represent  that  it  would  not  be 
well  to  put  them  into  anybody's  hands,  for  strange 
things  are  contained  therein." 

"What !"  cried  the  old  man  angrily,  "you  don't 
mean  to  say  you  have  looked  into  them  ?" 

"Yes,  I  have  read  them  all  through." 

"I  did  not  tell  you  to  do  that." 

"No,  but  you  were  graciously  pleased  not  to  for- 


CHILDISH  NONSENSE  49 

bid  me  to  do  so.  Now,  I  know  everything.  I  know 
the  cause  of  the  young  lady's  illness.  I  know  why 
she  does  not  wish  to  become  the  wife  of  Count 
Hátszegi.  Nay,  I  even  know  what  will  happen  in 
case  she  does.  I  know  all  that  I  say — and  here  it 
is  in  my  pocket." 

"And  what  presumption  on  your  part  to  read 
other  people's  letters !" 

"I  beg  your  honour's  pardon,  but  it  is  not  pre- 
sumption ;  I  only  wanted  to  know  the  value  of  the 
wares  I  have  obtained  for  your  honour.  I  wanted 
to  know  whether  they  were  worth  one  florin,  two 
florins,  a  hundred  florins,  a  thousand  florins,  lest 
you  should  do  me  the  favour  to  say  to  me :  'look, 
ye,  Margari,  my  son,  here  are  some  coppers,  go 
and  drink  my  health !' — and  so  get  the  better  of 
me. 

"You  are  becoming  impertinent !  Do  you  want 
me  to  ring  for  the  footman?" 

"Pray  do  not  give  yourself  the  trouble !  If  you 
are  determined  to  take  the  documents  away  from 
me  by  force  I  will  fling  them  into  the  fire  that  is 
burning  there  on  the  hearth  before  the  footman 
can  come  in  and  there  will  be  an  end  to  them." 

"Then  it  is  money  you  want,  eh  ?  How  much  ?" 

This  question  made  Margari  still  more  bump- 
tious. 

"How  much  do  I  want?  A  good  deal,  a  very 
good  deal,  I  can  tell  you.  In  fact  I  cannot  tell  at 
present  how  much." 

But  then  he  suddenly  reassumed  his  obsequious 


50  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

cringing  mien  and  added:  "I  tell  you  what,  your 
honour,  procure  me  some  petty  office  at  Count 
tlátszegi's.  I  don't  care  what  it  is,  so  long  as  I 
get  a  life-long  sinecure — suppose  we  say  his 
bailiff,  or  his  librarian,  or  his  secretary  ?  A  single 
word  from  your  honour  would  do  it." 

An  idea  suddenly  occurred  to  Mr.  Demetrius. 

"Very  good,  Margari,  very  good.  So  it  shall 
be.  I  give  you  my  word  upon  it — you  shall  be 
Hátszegi's  secretary." 

"But  it  must  be  life-long.  I  humbly  beg  of  you, 
it  must  be  till  the  term  not  of  his  but  of  my 
natural  life." 

"Yes,  yes,  till  the  term  of  your  natural  life." 

"But  if  he  won't  have  it?" 

"I'll  pay  you  myself.  You  shall  receive  your 
regular  salary  from  me  without  including  what- 
ever you  may  get  over  and  above  from  him.  Will 
you  be  satisfied  with  a  yearly  salary  of  three  hun- 
dred florins  with  your  board  and  keep  ?" 

At  these  words  Margari's  breath  failed  him.  It 
was  not  without  difficulty  that  he  put  the  rapa- 
cious question :  "Will  your  honour  do  me  the  fa- 
vour to  give  me  this  promise  in  writing?" 

"Certainly !  Bring  writing  materials  and  I  will 
dictate  it  to  you  on  the  spot." 

And  so  an  agreement  was  duly  drawn  up 
whereby  Mr.  Margari,  in  consideration  of  a 
yearly  salary  of  300  florins  to  be  punctually  sent 
to  him  at  the  beginning  of  every  quarter,  under- 
took in  his  capacity  of  secretary  to  Baron  Hats- 


CHILDISH  NONSENSE  51 

zegi,  to  keep  his  Honour  Demetrius  Lapussa  in- 
formed of  all  that  he  saw  and  heard  at  the  resi- 
dence of  that  gentleman,  Henrietta's  future  hus- 
band, and  this  obligation  of  maintaining  Margari 
was  to  be  transferred  on  the  death  of  Mr.  Deme- 
trius to  his  son  John.  And  no  doubt  Mr.  Deme- 
trius knew  very  well  what  he  was  about. 

This  document  signed  and  sealed,  Mr.  Margari, 
with  the  greatest  alacrity,  produced  the  Latin 
exercises  in  question,  first  of  all,  however,  respect- 
fully kissing  the  hand  of  his  patron. 

It  took  till  midnight  to  read  and  translate  all 
these  documents  one  by  one.  Mr.  Demetrius  was 
very  well  satisfied  with  the  result,  that  is  to  say  so 
far  as  concerned  the  fidelity  of  the  translation, 
— with  the  tenor  of  the  original  text  he  had  not 
the  slightest  reason  to  be  pleased. 

When,  shortly  after  midnight,  these  revelations 
were  concluded,  Mr.  Demetrius  commanded  Mar- 
gari to  go  up  into  his  room  and  have  a  complete 
translation  of  all  this  Latin  rigmarole  written 
down  in  honest  Hungarian  by  the  morning  and  to 
encourage  him  in  his  task  he  gave  him  two  gul- 
dens and  an  order  on  the  butler  for  as  much  punch 
as  he  could  drink.  By  the  morning  all  the  punch 
was  drunk,  but  the  translation  also  was  finished, 
to  the  tune  of  bacchanalian  songs  which  Margari 
kept  up  with  great  spirit  all  night  long. 

*  =H  =!=  >!<  >ji  Hi  * 

Next  day,  punctually  at  the  appointed  hour,  the 
lawyer,  Mr.  Sipos,  appeared  at  the  house  of  the 


52  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

LapussaSjWith  the  necessary  documents  neatly  tied 
up  with  tape,  under  his  arm  as  usual ;  he  was  not 
like  our  modern  lawyers  who  carry  their  master- 
pieces in  portfolios  as  if  they  are  ashamed  of  them. 
The  only  persons  in  the  reception  room  besides 
the  old  man,  were  Madame  Langai  and  Mr. 
John.  Henrietta,  still  an  invalid,  had  been  allowed 
to  take  a  stroll  to  the  woods  near  the  town  in 
order  to  visit  her  favourite  flowers  once  more  and 
possibly  take  leave  of  them  for  ever.  She  had 
received  no  invitation-card  for  this  lecture.  Why, 
indeed,  should  a  bride  know  anything  of  her 
bridegroom's  biography  before  marriage!  The 
lawyer  took  his  place  at  the  table,  untied  his  pile  of 
documents  and  began  to  read. 

It  appeared  from  these  documents  that  the 
founder  of  the  Hátszegi  family,  the  great  grand- 
father of  the  present  baron,  was  one  Mustafa,  who 
had  been  a  Defterdár*  at  Stamboul,  and  had  used 
his  unrivalled  opportunities  for  making  money  so 
well  that  he  found  it  expedient  to  fly  from  Jassy  to 
Transylvania,  where  he  made  haste  to  get  baptized 
and  naturalized.  His  son,  now  an  Hungarian 
nobleman,  cut  a  fine  figure  at  court  and  gallantly 
distinguished  himself  in  the  Turkish  wars  against 
his  former  compatriots,  his  exploits  winning 
for  him  the  estate  of  Hidvár  and  the  title  of 
baron.  His  son  again  v>as  a  miser  of  the  first 
water  who  could  be  enticed  neither  to  court  nor 
into  the  houses  of  his  neighbours.     He  was  con- 

*  The  chief  of  the  financial  department  in  the  Turkish  vilagets. 


CHILDISH  NONSENSE  53 

tinually  scraping  money  together  and  was  not  over 
particular  in  the  choice  of  his  scraper.  By  adroit 
chicanery  he  acquired  possession  of  the  gold  mines 
of  Verespatak,  which  he  exploited  with  immense 
advantage,  and  by  means  of  money  lending  and 
mortgages  got  into  his  hands  the  vast  estate  of 
Hátszegi  in  the  counties  of  Hunyad  and  Feher,  so 
that  when  he  died  it  took  thirty  heavy  wagons  to 
convey  his  ready  money  in  gold  and  silver  alone 
from  the  Vadormi  caverns,  where  he  had  con- 
cealed it  to  the  castle  of  Hidvár,  which  his  only 
son,  Leonard,  chose  as  his  residence  after  his 
father's  death.  All  these  details  were  certified  by 
unimpeachable  documents  in  schedules  B,  C. 
and  D. 

Moreover,  the  blood  of  many  nationalities 
circulated  in  the  veins  of  Baron  Leonard.  The 
Defterdár  himself  was  a  Turk  of  Roumelian 
origin,  whose  only  son  was  the  child  of  his  Hindu 
concubine.  He  again  married  the  daughter  of  a 
Polish  countess  at  the  court  of  Vienna.  The  wife 
of  Baron  Leonard's  father  was  a  wallachized 
Hungarian  lady,  whom  he  married  for  her  wealth. 
It  was  not  wonderful,  therefore,  if  the  noble 
baron  possessed  the  qualities  of  five  distinct  races. 
Thus  he  had  something  of  the  voluptuousness  of 
the  Turk,  the  ostentation  of  the  Hindu,  the 
flightiness  of  the  Pole,  the  foolhardiness  of  the 
Hungarian,  and  the  obstinacy  of  the  Wallach. 

'Tor,  I  speak  of  his  faults  first,"  the  lawyer 
proceeded,  "because  I  consider  that  they  outweigh 


54  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

his  good  qualities.    That  the  baron  is  a  rich  man  is 
evident  from  the  accounts  and  inventories  classed 
under  schedule  E;  that  the  baron  is  a  handsome 
man    is    evident    from    the    photograph    under 
schedule  H ;  that  the  baron  is  physically  sound  is 
clear  from  the  certificates  annexed  to  schedules  I 
and  K,  one  of  which  is  supplied  by  his  physician 
and  the  other  by  his  hunting  comrades.  Those  who 
require  nothing  from  a  man  save  health,  wealth, 
strength,  and  beauty,  will  of  course  consider  him 
fit  and  proper  to  make  a  woman  happy.   Yet  hav- 
ing regard  to  the  following  facts   (i)  that  the 
aforesaid  baron  is  not  merely  unstable  in  love 
affairs  but  capricious  to  the  verge  of  eccentricity, 
and  a  winebibber  and  gourmand  to  boot ;   ( 2  )  that 
he  is  as  vain  as  an  Indian  prince  who  takes  unto 
him  a  wife  for  the  mere  pomp  and  show  of  the 
thing;    (3)  that  he  is  violent  and  brutal,  sparing 
nobody  in  his  sudden  fits  of  passion  and,  as  the 
documents  testify,  has  frequently  inflicted  mortal 
injuries  on  those  who  have  come  in  his  way  while 
he  was  in  an  ill-humour;    (4)  that  he  has  an  odd 
liking  for  rowdy  adventures,  which  do  not  reflect 
much  credit  upon  him ;  and  (  5 )  that,  according  to 
the  whispers  of  those  nearest  to  him  there  is  a 
strange  mystery  pervading  his  whole  life,  inas- 
much as  mysterious  disappearances,  which  nobody 
can  make  head  or  tail  of,  occupy  an  incalculable 
number  of  his  days  and  weeks  which  remain  unac- 
counted for,  and  make  a  pretty  considerable  hiatus 
in  every  year  of  his  life — taking  all  these  things 


CHILDISH  NONSENSE  55 

into  consideration,  I  am  constrained  to  give  it  as 
my  opinion  that  I  do  not  consider  such  a  man  a  fit 
and  proper  husband  for  such  a  tender,  sympathetic 
young  lady  as  the  Miss  Henrietta  in  question,  and 
let  the  world  if  it  likes  consider  such  a  match 
as  the  greatest  piece  of  good  fortune  imaginable, 
I,  for  my  part,  would  nevertheless  call  it  a  calam- 
ity to  be  avoided  at  any  price.  And  now  would 
you  do  me  the  honour  to  examine  the  original 
documents  I  have  brought  with  me  as  exhibits 
in  corroboration  of  my  statements — though  I 
would  mention,"  he  quickly  added,  perceiving  that 
Madame  Langai  had  greedily  clutched  hold  of 
them,  "that  among  those  documents  there  are 
sundry  by  no  means  suited  for  a  lady's  perusal." 

"When  I  come  across  any  such  I  will  pass  them 
over,"  said  she.  Of  course  these  were  the  very 
passages  she  proceeded  to  search  for  straight 
away. 

Meanwhile  Mr.  Demetrius  also  had  drawn  a 
packet  of  papers  from  underneath  the  cushions  of 
his  sofa  and  handed  them  to  Mr.  Sipos. 

"Then  you  do  not  advise  me  to  give  Henrietta 
to  Baron  Hátszegi  to  wife?  Good!  And  now, 
perhaps,  while  we  run  through  the  exhibits  and 
schedules,  perhaps  you'll  be  so  good  as  to  cast  your 
eye  over  these  papers.  I  don't  think  thev  will  bore 
you." 

These  documents,  by  the  way,  were  the  Latin 
documents  discovered  by  Mr.  Margari — in  natura. 

Mr.  John  was  marching  pettishly  up  and  down 


56  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

the  room,  and  Madame  Langai  was  reading  her 
documents  with  the  greatest  attention  so  that  no- 
body observed  the  surprise,  the  confusion  reflected 
in  the  countenance  of  the  lawyer  as  he  looked 
through  the  fatal  Latin  manuscripts.  He  kept 
shaking  his  head  and  twisting  his  moustache  right 
and  left,  fidgeted  in  his  armchair,  and  the  beads 
of  perspiration  which  stood  out  on  his  forehead 
gave  him  enough  to  do  to  wipe  them  away  with 
his  pocket-handkerchief;  at  last  he  had  read  the 
papers,  and  then  he  laid  the  whole  bundle  on  the 
table  and  stared  silently  before  him  like  one  whose 
reason  for  the  moment  had  no  counsel  to  give  him. 

Just  about  the  same  time  Madame  Langai  had 
completed  the  perusal  of  her  documents,  and  now 
she  too  seemed  to  be  in  an  extreme  state  of  agita- 
tion. During  the  course  of  her  reading,  she  had 
been  unable  to  restrain  herself  from  exclaiming  at 
intervals :   "the  monster !  the  scoundrel !" 

Mr.  Demetrius  had  been  amusing  himself  all 
this  time  by  carefully  observing  the  various  muta- 
tions of  expression  in  the  faces  of  the  readers, 
which  certainly  afforded  considerable  entertain- 
ment to  an  onlooker  with  any  sense  of  humour. 

When  every  document  had  produced  its  expres- 
sion, he  remarked  in  a  soft  gentle  voice:  "Well, 
my  daughter,  what  do  yoii  think  of  the  affair?" 

Madame  Langai  clapped  to  her  eyeglass  and, 
with  the  air  of  one  who  had  made  up  his  mind 
once  for  all,  replied  instantly :   "I  would  not  allow 


CHILDISH  NONSENSE  57 

a  decent  chambermaid  to  become  Baron  Háts- 
zegi's  wife,  let  alone  a  Henrietta  Lapussa." 

"And  what  is  your  opinion,  Mr.  Lawyer?" 
enquired  the  old  man  turning  to  Mr.  Sipos. 

"I?"  replied  the  honest  man,  visibly  perturbed, 
with  a  voice  full  of  emotion :  "I  would  advise  that 
the  young  lady  should  be  married  to  the  baron  as 
quickly  as  possible." 

Madame  Langai  regarded  him  with  wide-open 
eyes. 

"What !    After  all  that  is  in  these  papers?" 

"No,  after  all  that  is  in  those  ether  documents." 

"What  are  they?"  cried  Madame  Langai  poun- 
cing upon  them  incontinently  and  extremely 
vexed,  the  next  moment,  to  find  them  all  written 
in  Latin.  She  perceived  that  they  were  Koloman's 
exercises,  and  that  was  all.  She  did  not  under- 
stand their  connection  with  the  case  in  point. 

"I'll  take  those  documents  back  please,"  said 
old  Demetrius,  stretching  out  a  skinny  hand  to- 
wards them.  "They  will  be  of  use  to  us  though  I 
have  a  translation  of  them  besides.  Then,  you 
think,  Mr.  Law5^er,  it  will  be  as  well  to  marry 
Henrietta  to  the  baron,  eh  ?  Very  well !  Let  me 
add  that  on  the  day  when  Henrietta  goes  to  the 
altar  with  Baron  Leonard,  I  will  make  you  a  pres- 
ent of  all  this  scribble.  Till  then  I  shall  require 
them.    Do  you  understand  ?" 

Mr.  Sipos  was  completely  beaten :  you  might 
have  knocked  him  down  with  a  feather.  He  had 
never  been, so  badly  worsted  in  his  professional 


58  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

capacity.  Madame  Langai  would  have  besieged 
him  with  questions,  but  he  avoided  her,  put  on  his 
hat  and  departed. 

Madame  Langai  thereupon  turned  to  her 
father:  "What  is  the  cause  of  this  wondrous 
change?"  she  cried.  "What  secrets  do  those 
miraculous  papers  contain?" 

Mr.  Demetrius  tucked  the  documents  in  ques- 
tion well  beneath  him  and  replied :  "They  contain 
secrets  the  discovery  whereof  will  be  a  great 
misfortune  and  yet  a  great  benefit  to  the  parties 
concerned." 

"Have  they  any  connection  with  Henrietta's 
wedding?" 

"They  have  a  direct  bearing  thereupon,  and, 
indeed,  necessitate  it !" 

"Poor  girl!"  sighed  Madame  Langai. 

Mr.  Sipos  passed  by  his  own  dwelling  three 
times  before  he  knew  that  he  had  reached  home, 
so  confused  was  he  by  what  he  had  just  learnt. 
When  he  did  get  inside  the  house  he  walked  for  a 
long  time  up  and  down  his  consulting  room  as  if 
he  were  trying  to  find  a  beginning  for  a  business 
he  would  very  much  have  liked  to  be  at  the  end 
of.  At  last  he  gave  the  bellrope  a  very  violent 
pull  and  told  the  clerk  who  answered  the  bell  to 
send  him  his  assistant,  Mr.  Szilárd,  at  once. 

Szilárd  appeared  on  the  very  heels  of  the  mes- 
senger. His  was  one  of  those  faces  which  women 
never  forget.    There  was  ardent  passion  in  every 


CHILDISH  NONSENSE  59 

feature  and  the  large  flaming  black  eyes,  which 
spoke  of  courage  and  high  enthusiasm,  har- 
monized so  well  with  the  wan  hue  of  the  pallid 
face. 

"Well,  my  dear  fellow,  do  you  feel  quite  well 
again  now?"  asked  Mr.  Sipos  in  a  tone  of  friendly 
familiarity;  "did  the  doctor  call  to  see  you  to- 
day?" 

"I  have  no  need  of  him,  there's  nothing  the 
matter  with  me." 

"Nay^  nay !  Not  so  reckless !  You  have  been 
working  again,  I  see.  You  know  the  doctor  has 
forbidden  it." 

"I  only  work  to  distract  my  thoughts." 

"You  should  seek  amusement  rather.  Why 
don't  you  mix  in  society  like  other  young  men? 
Why  don't  you  frequent  the  coffee-houses  and  go 
to  a  dance  occasionally?  Why,  you  slave  away 
like  a  street-porter!  Young  blood  needs  relaxa- 
tion." 

"Oh,  I  am  all  right.  My  dear  uncle,  you  are 
very  kind,  but  you  worry  about  me  more  than  I 
deserve." 

"That  is  my  duty,  my  dear  nephew.  Don't  you 
know  that  your  poor  father  confided  you  to  my 
care  on  his  death-bed,  bade  me  be  a  father  to 
you.     Don't  you  remember?" 

"I  do,"  replied  the  young  man,  and  catching 
hold  of  his  guardian's  hand  he  pressed  it,  murmur- 
ing in  a  scarcely  audible  voice :  "You  have  indeed 
been  a  second  father  to  me !" 


6o  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

But  Mr,  Sipos  tore  his  hand  passionately  from 
the  young  man's  grasp  and  said  in  a  somewhat 
rougher  tone :  "But  suppose  your  dead  father  were 
to  say :  'That  is  not  true !  You  have  not  watched 
over  my  son  as  a  father  should !  You  have  lightly 
left  him  to  himself.  He  was  in  danger  and  you 
were  unaware  of  it.  He  hovered  on  the  edge  of 
the  abyss  and  you  were  blind  and  saw  nothing. 
And  if  God  and  my  dead  hand  had  not  defended 
him,  he  would  have  become  a  suicide  and  you 
knew  it  not — wherefore?'  " — 

The  young  man  trembled  at  these  words,  he 
grew  even  paler  than  before  and  gazed  with  a 
look  of  stupefaction  at  his  chief.  Then  the  old 
man  approached  him,  and  took  him  by  the  hand  as 
if  he  would  say :  "I  am  going  to  scold  you,  but  fear 
nothing,     I  am  on  your  side." 

"My  dear  Szilárd,"  said  he,  "don't  you  recol- 
lect that  when  you  were  a  little  child  and  did  any- 
thing you  should  not  have  done,  and  your  father 
questioned  you  about  it,  did  he  not  always  say  to 
you :  'when  you  have  done  wrong  and  are  ashamed 
to  confess  it,  keep  silence!  press  your  teeth  to- 
gether! but  don't  lie,  don't  deny  it,  never  think 
of  taking  refuge  behind  any  false  excuse,  for  your 
name  is  Szilárd,*  and  cowardice  does  not  become 
the  bearer  of  such  a  name !'  You  understood  him. 
You  acted  as  he  would  have  had  you  act.  And 
now  I  also  would  remind  you  once  more  that  you 
were  christened  Szilárd  and  I  ask  you  therefore 

♦  strong,  firm. 


CHILDISH  NONSENSE  6l 

to  listen  calmly  to  what  I  am  about  to  say  to  you. 
Don't  interrupt,  don't  attempt  to  deceive  me.  If 
you  don't  want  to  answer  my  questions,  simply 
shake  your  head!  And  now  sit  down,  my  son! 
You  are  still  barely  convalescent.  Your  head  is 
weak  and  what  I  have  to  say  to  you  might  very 
well  make  it  reel  again." 

Then  the  old  lawyer  tenderly  pressed  the  youth 
into  a  chair  and  sighing  deeply,  thus  continued: 
"You  fell  in  love  with  the  daughter  of  a  great 
family  and  she  with  you.  You  got  acquainted  at 
a  dance  and  the  intimacy  did  not  stop  there. 
Every  conceivable  obstacle  intervened  between 
you,  but  love  is  artful  and  inventive  and  you  found 
a  way.  The  rich  girl  had  a  neglected  brother 
whom  his  relations  sent  to  the  grammar  school 
and  the  rascal  frequently  took  refuge  with  me,  the 
family  attorney,  when  he  was  ill-treated  at  home, 
and  here  you  came  across  him.  You  cared  for 
him  and  explained  to  hmi  the  difficulties  in  his  les- 
sons which  he  was  unable  to  do  for  himself.  The 
boy  grew  very  fond  of  you.  He  spoke  to  you  of 
your  beloved,  and  he  spoke  to  her  of  you.  and  he 
w^as  always  praising  each  of  you  to  the  other.  The 
grandfather,  the  uncle,  the  aunt,  the  governess, 
the  domestics  who  never  took  their  eyes  off  the 
girl  for  an  instant,  had  no  idea  that  she  was 
already  involved  in  a  love  affair.  But  amazing  is 
the  ingenuity  of  love  and  lovers !  You  knew  that 
none  of  the  older  members  of  the  family  under- 
stood the  classical  language  of  the  orators,  and 


62  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

the  girl  loved  so  dearly  that  she  did  not  consider 
it  too  great  a  labour  to  learn  a  dead  tongue  which 
could  be  of  no  further  use  to  her  in  order  to  be 
able  to  say  to  her  beloved :  Ego  te  in  aeternum 
amabo!  One  must  admit  that  that  was  a  great 
and  noble  sacrifice.  Every  day  you  corresponded 
with  each  other.  Before  school  time  the  girl  dic- 
tated his  lessons  to  her  young  brother,  beginning 
with  the  usual  scholastic  flowers  of  rhetoric  but 
ending  in  the  passionate  voice  of  love,  and  after 
school  was  over,  you,  in  your  turn  dictated  a  simi- 
lar lesson  for  the  lad  to  carry  back  with  him. 
Naturally,  this  lesson  book  he  never  took  to  school 
with  him;  you  kept  the  other  here,  the  genuine 
one  which  he  had  to  show  to  his  masters.  And 
this  ingenious  smuggling  was  carried  on  beneath 
the  very  eyes  of  the  family  without  their  perceiv- 
ing it.  Yet  at  last  it  was  discovered.  This  very 
day,  only  an  hour  ago,  the  old  head  of  the  family 
placed  these  papers  in  my  hands  that  I  might  read 
them,  informing  me  at  the  same  time  that  he  had 
already  read  a  translation  of  them.  Terrible  were 
the  things  I  discovered  in  these  papers.  The  ap- 
pearance of  a  rich  and  noble  suitor  who,  according 
to  the  notions  of  the  world,  was  just  made  for  the 
girl,  frustrated  all  your  plans  of  waiting  patiently 
for  better  times.  The  family  forced  this  union 
upon  the  girl.  You,  in  your  despair,  racked  your 
brain  as  to  what  you  should  do.  At  first  you 
resolved  upon  an  elopement,  but  the  redoubled 
vigilance  with  which  every  step  of  the  young  girl 


CHILDISH  NONSENSE  63 

was  watched  made  this  impossible.  Then  a  black 
and  terrible  thought  occurred  to  you  both.  You 
resolved  to  kill  yourselves — it  was  your  one  re- 
maining means  of  deliverance.  Yes,  you  resolved 
to  kill  yourselves  at  once,  on  the  self-same  day,  in 
the  self-same  manner.  For  many  days  you  de- 
liberated together  as  to  the  best  way  of  accom- 
plishing your  design.  Great  caution  was  neces- 
sary. You  had  to  pick  your  words  lest  the  little 
brother  who  wrote  them  down  from  dictation 
should  have  guessed  your  intentions.  The  girl 
asked  you,  at  last,  to  send  her  a  book  on  natural 
science.  You  sent  it  to  her.  She,  with  the  help  of 
it  tried  to  find  out  what  sorts  of  poisons  could  be 
most  easily  procured.  For  two  whole  days  you 
deliberated  together  as  to  the  best  way  of  obtain- 
ing matches,  the  phosphorus  of  which  is  the  most 
efficacious  of  poisons.  But  in  vain.  In  great 
houses  only  the  domestics  have  charge  of  the 
matches,  it  was  impossible  to  get  any.  At  last 
the  girl  hit  on  an  expedient.  She  discovered  that 
if  you  put  a  copper  coin  in  a  glass  dish  and  pour 
strong  vinegar  over  it,  verdegris  will  be  formed 
and  verdegris  is  poison.  Your  minds  were  at  once 
made  up.  The  girl  prepared  poison  for  herself 
and  taught  you  to  do  the  same.  .  .  Merciful 
Heaven !  what  notions  children  do  get  into  their 
heads  to  be  sure." 


CHAPTER  V 

SHE   IS    NOT    FOR   YOU 

Up  to  this  moment  the  youth  had  Hstened  to  the 
lecture  in  silence,  but  now  he  arose  and  said  in  a 
calm  clear  voice :   '"Tis  all  true ;   it  is  so !" 

"I  should  say  it  was  all  very  bad,  very  bad  in- 
deed !"  said  the  lawyer  vehemently,  as  if  complet- 
ing a  broken  sentence.  ''What !  Children  to  medi- 
tate suicide  because  things  in  this  world  don't  go 
exactly  according  to  their  liking!  Have  you 
never  regarded  the  affair  from  its  practical  side? 
Did  you  imagine  that  the  girl's  relations  would 
support  you  ?  And  would  you  yourself  endure  to 
be  their  pensioner,  their  butt,  the  scorn  of  the  very 
domestics,  for  a  poor  son-in-law  is  the  standing 
jest  of  the  very  flunkeys — you  ought  to  know 
that!" 

Szilárd' s  face  burned  like  fire  at  these  words, 
but  the  old  man  hastened  to  soothe  him. 

"No,  you  could  never  reconcile  yourself  to  that, 
I  am  sure.  But  you  thought,  perhaps,  that  the 
girl  might  descend  to  your  level  and  share  your 
poverty.  There  are  in  the  world  many  a  poor  lad 
and  lass  who  endow  one  another  with  nothing  but 
their  ardent  love  and  yet  make  happy  couples 
enough.  So,  no  doubt,  you  argued,  and  herein 
lies  the  fallacy  that  has  deceived  you.    If  you  had 

64 


SHE  IS  NOT  FOR  YOU  65 

been  enamoured  of  a  poor  girl,  I  should  have 
said :  it  is  rather  early  to  think  of  marriage,  but  if 
it  be  God's  will,  take  her!  Work  and  fight  your 
way  through  the  world  where  there  is  room 
enough  for  every  one.  The  lass,  too,  is  used  to 
deprivation,  and  you  are  also.  She  will  be  content 
with  little.  She  can  sew,  she  will  do  your  cooking 
for  you,  and,  if  need  be,  your  washing  likewise! 
She  can  make  one  penny  go  as  far  as  two.  When 
there  is  a  lot  to  do  she  will  sing  to  make  the  work 
lighter,  and  when  your  supper  is  slender,  her  good 
humour  and  her  loving  embraces  will  make  it 
more.  But  my  dear  boy!  how  are  you  going  to 
make  a  poor  housewife  out  of  a  girl  who  has  been 
rich?  How  can  she  ever  feel  at  home  in  a 
wretched,  out-of-the-way  shanty,  where  she  will 
not  even  have  you  always  by  her  side,  for  you  will 
have  to  be  looking  after  your  daily  bread?  She 
will  say  nothing,  she  will  make  no  complaint,  but 
you  will  perceive  that  she  misses  something.  She 
will  not  ask  you  for  a  new  dress,  but  you  will  see 
that  the  one  she  wears  is  shabby  and  it  would 
break  your  heart  to  reflect  that  you  have  fettered 
the  girl  you  love  to  your  step-motherly  destiny, 
and  your  manly  pride  would  one  day  blush  for  the 
recklessness  which  led  you  to  drag  her  down  with 
you." 

"My  dear  guardian,"  said  Szilárd,  "to  prove  to 
you  that  I  did  think  of  all  these  things  let  me  tell 
you  that  I  have  put  by  from,  my  salary  and  com- 
missions enough  to  enable  us  to  live  comfortably 


66  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

for  at  least  a  twelvemonth.  For  a  whole  year  I 
have  lived  on  two  pence  a  day  in  order  to  save, 
and  during  all  that  time  I  am  sure  you  have  not 
heard  from  me  one  word  of  complaint." 

Mr.  Sipos  was  horrified.  It  was  an  even  worse 
case  than  he  had  imagined.  What!  to  live  for  a 
whole  year  on  two  pence  a  day  in  order  to  scrape 
together  a  small  capital  for  one's  beloved!  It 
would  be  very  difficult  to  cure  a  madness  which 
took  such  a  practical  turn  as  this ! 

"But  my  dear  boy!"  he  resumed,  "what  is  the 
good  of  it  all?  What  can  you  do  now  that  your 
secrets  are  discovered  ?  It  would  have  served  you 
right  if  the  girl's  parents  had  proceeded  against 
you  on  a  charge  of  murder,  for  you  were  an  ac- 
complice in  this  poisoning  business ;  but  I  am 
pretty  sure  they  will  only  threaten  to  do  so  in  case 
she  refuses  the  baron.  And  what,  pray,  can  you 
do  in  case  they  thus  compel  her  to  become  his 
wife?" 

"Whoever  the  baron  may  be,"  rejoined  Szilárd, 
"I  suppose  he  is  at  least  a  gentleman;  and  if  a 
woman  looks  him  straight  in  the  face  on  the  wed- 
ding day  and  says  to  him :  'I  cannot  love  you  be- 
cause I  love  another  and  always  will  love  another,' 
■ — I  cannot  think  he  will  be  so  devoid  of  feeling  as 
to  make  her  his  wife  notwithstanding." 

"And  if  she  does  not  say  this,  but  voluntarily 
gives  him  her  hand  in  order  to  save  you  from  the 
persecutions  of  her  family,  what  then?" 

"Hearken, my  dear  guardian !   She  maybe  com- 


SHE  IS  NOT  FOR  YOU  67 

pelled  to  write  to  me  that  she  loves  me  no  more 
and  I  must  forget  her,  but  I  shall  not  believe  it  till 
she  pronounces  or  writes  down  a  word  the  mean- 
ing of  which  only  we  two  understand  and  nobody 
else  in  the  world  can  discover.  So  long  as  this  one 
word  does  not  get  into  the  possession  of  a  third 
person,  I  shall  know  that  she  has  not  broken  with 
me  and  no  power  in  this  world  shall  tear  her  from 
my  heart.  She  may  be  silent,  because  she  is  not 
free  to  speak ;  she  may  speak  because  she  is  com- 
manded to  speak;  yet,  for  all  that,  this  religiously 
guarded  word  tells  me  what  she  really  feels — and 
what  no  other  human  intelligence  can  understand. 
If  you  like,  my  dear  guardian,  you  may  betray 
this  confession  of  mine  to  Henrietta's  relatives 
and  they  will  torment  the  girl  till  they  get  her  to 
pronounce  the  mysterious  word  which  once  pro- 
nounced will  burst  the  bonds  that  unite  us.  She 
will  be  driven  to  say  something.  But  oh !  women 
who  love  are  very  crafty.  The  word  they  will  re- 
port to  me  will  not  be  the  right  one.  It  is  possible, 
too,  that  they  may  take  her  far  away  from  me. 
Let  them  guard  her  well  I  say,  let  those  who  watch 
over  her  never  close  an  eye.  And  if  they  give  her 
a  husband,  they  had  best  pray  .for  his  life  for  they 
know  not  what  a  fated  thing  it  is  to  give  away  in 
marriage  a  girl  who  bears  about  in  her  heart  the 
secret  of  a  third  person." 

"My  dear  young  friend,  I  see  that  we  shall  not 
come  to  an  understanding  with  each  other.  You 
are  bent  upon  plunging  into  ruin  a  poor  defence- 


68  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

less  girl  in  the  name  of  what  you  call  love,  and  will 
not  renounce,  though  you  have  not  the  slightest 
hope  of  winning  her — that  I  do  not  understand. 
I,  on  the  other  hand,  am  the  legal  adviser  of  the 
young  lady's  family,  and,  in  that  capacity,  I  con- 
sidered it  my  duty  to  protest  very  energetically 
against  the  match  in  question.  But  when  they 
placed  those  precious  papers  in  my  hands,  I  said 
at  once  that  they  must  marry  her  to  this  man  in 
any  case.  Otherwise  they  would  have  fancied  I 
was  advocating  your  crazy  hopes,  that  I  was  an 
interested  party  and  simply  opposed  the  family 
candidate  in  order  to  smuggle  in  a  kinsman  of  my 
own  in  his  stead.  That  idea  I  was  determined  to 
knock  out  of  their  heads,  happen  what  would.  But 
that  of  course  you  do  not  understand.  And  now 
you  had  better  return  to  your  room.  Destiny  will 
one  day  explain  to  all  of  us  what  we  do  not  under- 
stand now." 

******* 

At  about  the  same  hour  the  second  act  of  this 
drama  was  proceeding  in  the  torture-chamber  of 
the  Lapussa  family. 

Henrietta  had  returned  home  from  her  little 
tour  laden  with  flowers,  when  old  Demetrius  sent 
word  to  her  that  he  would  like  to  see  her  in  his 
room.  He  had  taken  the  precaution  of  sending 
Madame  Langai  away  shortly  before  and  Mr. 
John  was  absent  at  the  Corn  Exchange. 

"My  little  maid,  Hetty,  come  nearer  to  me," 
said  the  old  gentleman,  turning  sideways  on  his 


SHE  IS  NOT  FOR  YOU  69 

couch  and  ferreting  out  from  beneath  his  pillows  a 
concave  snuff-box,  ''pray  do  not  be  angry  with  me 
for  putting  you  to  inconvenience.  Bear  with  me 
for  the  little  time  I  have  still  to  live.  But  if  you 
find  living  under  the  same  roof  with  me  unen- 
durable, all  the  greater  reason  for  you  to  seize  the 
opportunity  of  releasing  yourself  as  quickly  as 
possible." 

Henrietta  was  too  much  used  to  these  choleric 
outbursts  to  think  of  replying  to  them. 

"Pray,  put  your  hand  beneath  m)^  pillow.  You 
will  find  a  packet  of  papers  there.  Take  them  out 
and  look  at  them." 

Henrietta  did  with  stolid  indifference  what  the 
old  man  bade  her  and  drew  forth  from  this  pecu- 
liar repository — which  served  as  a  sort  of  lair  for 
snuff-boxes,  pill-boxes  and  odd  bits  of  pastry — a 
large  bundle  of  manuscripts  which  she  recognized 
at  the  first  glance.  The  apprehended  papers, 
which  during  her  illness  had  prevented  her  from 
sleeping,  which  had  made  it  impossible  for  her  to 
get  well,  were  now  in  the  possession  of  him  from 
whom  she  had  been  most  anxious  to  conceal  them. 
The  criminal  stood  face  to  face  with  the  witness 
whose  damning  evidence  was  to  condemn  her. 
There  was  no  escape,  no  defence. 

''My  little  maid,"  said  the  old  man,  exultantly 
stuffing  his  eagle  nose  full  of  that  infernal  heating 
material  which  goes  by  the  name  of  snuff,  "don't 
be  angry  with  me  for  directing  your  attention  to 
this  scribble.    I  don't  want  to  make  any  use  of  it. 


70  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

I  know  quite  enough  of  it  already,  but  be  so  good 
as  to  listen  to  me!" 

Henrietta  absolutely  could  not  look  away  from 
her  grandfather's  blood-shot  eyes ;  it  seemed  to  her 
as  if  those  eyes  must  gradually  bore  through  to 
her  very  heart. 

"You  won't  marry  an  eminent  and  wealthy 
man  who  bestows  an  honour  upon  your  family  by 
asking  for  your  hand,  and  yet  you  would  run  away 
with  a  worthless  fellow  who  does  not  even  know 
why  he  was  put  into  the  world,  and  when  your 
family  steps  in  to  prevent  it,  you  would  violently 
put  yourself  to  death  in  order  to  die  with  him,  to 
our  eternal  shame  and  dishonour.  That  was  not 
nice  of  you.  But  sit  down.  I  see  you  are  all  of  a 
tremble.  I  would  fetch  you  a  chair  myself  if  it 
was  not  for  this  infernal  gout  of  mine." 

Henrietta  accepted  the  invitation  and  sat  down, 
otherwise  she  must  have  collapsed. 

"Now  look  ye,  my  dear  little  girl !  if  you  had  to 
deal  with  an  unmerciful,  austere  old  fellow,  a 
veritable  old  tiger,  in  fact,  as  I  have  no  doubt  you 
fancy  I  am,  he  would  make  no  bones  about  it  but 
pack  you  straight  off  to  a  nunnery  and  so  cut  you 
off  from  the  world  for  ever." 

Henrietta  sighed.  Such  a  threat  as  that  sounded 
to  her  like  a  consolation. 

"In  the  second  place,  an  old  tyrant,  such  as  I 
am  imagining,  would  have  sent  that  rip  of  a 
brother  of  yours,  who  is  not  ashamed  to  lend  a 
hand  in  the  seduction  of  his  own  sister,  would 


SHE  IS  NOT  FOR  YOU  7 1 

have  sent  him,  I  say,  to  a  reformatory.  I  may  tell 
you  there  are  several  such  institutions,  celebrated 
for  their  rigour,  whither  it  is  usual  to  send 
precocious  and  incorrigible  young  scapegraces. 
And  richly  he  would  have  deserved  it,  too." 

"Poor  Koloman!"  thought  the  little  sister. 
They  were  tenderly  devoted  to  each  other. 

"In  the  third  place,  our  old  tiger  would  have 
prosecuted  at  law  that  reckless  youth  who  had  a 
share  in  this  fine  suicide  project  of  yours.  For 
death,  my  dear,  is  no  plaything  and  jests  with 
poison  are  strictly  forbidden.  He  would  certainly 
be  condemned  to  hard  labour  for  five  or  six  years, 
which  would  be  a  very  wholesome  lesson  for  him." 

"Grandfather!"  screamed  the  tortured  child. 
This  last  allusion  dissolved  her  voice  in  tears.  She 
fell  down  on  her  knees  before  him  and  shed  inno- 
cent tears  enough  on  his  hand  to  wash  out  all  the 
old  specks  and  stains  on  it. 

"I  am  glad  to  see  those  tears,  my  dear  little  girl, 
they  show  that  you  have  confidence  in  me.  I  am 
not  a  tiger  who  eats  little  children,  what  I  have 
said  might  happen  but  I  don't  say  it  necessarily 
must.  I  don't  want  to  be  cruel  and  vindictive.  I 
don't  want  to  recollect  anything  of  the  insults 
showered  upon  me  in  that  scribble  of  yours,  all  I 
ask  of  you  is  that  you  will  not  stand  in  your  own 
way.  Get  up  and  don't  cry  any  more  or  you  will 
be  ill  again.  Go  up  into  your  own  room  and 
ponder  deeply  what  you  ought  to  do!  In  two 
hours'  time  I  shall  send  for  you  again,  and  in  the 


72  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

meantime  make  up  your  mind  about  it.  You  have 
the  choice  between  accepting  as  your  husband  an 
honourable  gentleman  of  becoming  rank  and  at 
the  same  time  renouncing  and  forgetting  a  fellow 
who  will  never  be  able  to  raise  himself  to  your 
level,  or  of  taking  the  veil  and  bidding  good-bye  to 
this  world.  In  the  latter  case,  however,  your 
brother  will  be  sent  to  a  reformatory  and  an  action 
will  be  commenced  against  your  accomplice.  It  is 
for  you  to  choose.  You  have  two  whole  hours 
to  turn  the  matter  over  in  your  mind.  In  the 
meantime  I  shall  send  for  my  lawyer  and,  accord- 
ing to  your  decision,  I  shall  get  him  to  draw  up  a 
marriage  contract  or  a  summons  to  the  criminal 
court.  It  all  depends  upon  you.  And  now  put 
back  those  documents  beneath  my  head.  Remem- 
ber that  you  will  only  receive  them  back  from  me 
as  a  bridal  gift.  Go  now  to  your  own  room  and 
reflect.  For  two  hours  nobody  shall  disturb  you." 
The  girl  mechanically  complied  with  his  com- 
mands. She  put  back  the  ominous  documents  in 
their  receptacle  and  withdrew  to  her  room.  There 
she  stood  in  front  of  a  vase  of  flowers  and  re- 
garded their  green  leaves  for  an  hour  without 
moving.  In  the  vase  was  a  fine  specimen  of  one  of 
those  wondrous  tropical  plants  whose  leaves  never 
fall  off,  one  of  those  plants  which  the  seasons  leave 
unchanged  and  which,  therefore,  is  such  a  beauti- 
ful emblem  of  constancy.  This  beautiful  plant  has 
a  peculiar  property.  If  one  of  its  compact  shining 
leaves  be  planted  in  the  earth  it  takes  root  and 


SHE  IS  NOT  FOR  YOU  73 

grows  into  a  shrub  whose  fragrant  wax-like  flow- 
ers diffuse  an  enchanting  perfume.  Three  years 
before  at  a  jurists'  ball,  when  Henrietta  and 
Szilárd  met  for  the  first  time,  he  had  given  her  a 
bouquet,  among  the  flowers  of  which  was  one  of 
these  green-gold  leaves,  and  when  she  got  home 
she  had  planted  it  in  a  jar  and  it  had  taken  root, 
spread  its  shoots  abroad  and  grown  larger  and 
larger  every  year.  And  Henrietta  had  called  it 
Szilárd  and  watched  over  its  growth  and  cared 
for  it  as  if  it  had  been  a  living  human  creature. 
For  a  long  time  she  stood  before  this  flowering 
plant  as  if  she  would  have  spoken  to  it  and  taken 
counsel  of  it.  At  last  she  turned  away  and  with 
her  hands  behind  her  head,  she  walked  slowly  up 
and  down  the  room,  and  as  often  as  she  paused 
before  the  vase,  she  behaved  like  one  whose  heart 
is  breaking.  But  time  was  hastening  on,  an  hour 
is  so  short  when  one  would  have  it  stay.  Alas !  no- 
where was  there  any  help,  any  refuge.  She  was 
abandoned.  She  had  nothing  in  the  world  but  this 
one  flowering  plant  which  she  called  Szilárd.  And 
the  moments  swiftly  galloping  after  one  another 
called  for  a  decision.  There  must  be  an  end  to  it. 
Once  more  she  approached  her  darling  plant  and 
kissed  all  the  leaves  of  its  beautiful  flowers  one  by 
one.  And  now  there  came  a  knock  at  the  door. 
Mr.  Demetrius's  messenger  had  come  and  a  cold 
shudder  ran  through  the  girl's  tender  frame.  "I 
am  coming!"  she  cried.  The  next  moment  not  a 
tear  was  to  be  seen  on  her  face,  nay,  not  a  trace 


74  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

of  sorrow,  or  fear,  but  only  snow-white  tran- 
quillity. 

All  the  members  of  the  family  were  assembled 
together  again  in  grandpapa's  room.  Mr.  Sipos 
was  also  present,  he  had  been  told  all  about  the 
business. 

"Well  my  dear  little  grandchild,"  said  Mr. 
Demetrius,  motioning  Henrietta  to  take  her  place 
at  the  table  with  the  others,  "have  you  made  up 
your  mind  ?" 

"I  have." 

"Veil  or  myrtle  wreath?" 

"I  will  be  married." 

"To  the  baron?" 

"Yes,"  replied  the  girl  in  a  strangely  calm  and 
courageous  tone,  "but  I  also  have  my  conditions 
to  impose." 

"Let  us  hear  them." 

"In  the  first  place  I  must  be  sure  that  my 
brother  Koloman  will  not  be  persecuted.  I  sup- 
pose you  will  not  let  him  come  with  me?" 

"No,  that  one  thing  cannot  be  allowed." 

"But  I  cannot  let  him  remain  here.  Send  him 
to  some  other  town.  You  are  always  talking  of 
your  rank  and  riches,  give  him  an  education  to 
correspond." 

The  child  in  those  two  hours  had  grown  older 
by  ten  years,  she  now  spoke  to  the  other  members 
of  the  family  with  the  air  of  a  matron. 

"Agreed!"  cried  Mr.  Demetrius.  "Besides  it 
will  be  much  better  if  Ave  do  not  see  him." 


SHE  IS  NOT  FOR  YOU  75 

"My  second  request  is  that  I  may  take  the  fur- 
niture I  have  been  used  to  and  my  flowers  along 
with  me  to  the  place  where  I  have  to  go." 

"Granted,  a  harmless  feminine  caprice.  Be  it 
soT' 

"In  the  third  place  I  should  like  the  papers 
grandfather  knows  of  to  be  given  back  to  him 
whom  it  most  concerns." 

"Certainly,"  said  Mr.  Demetrius,  "I  promised, 
did  I  not,  that  it  should  form  part  of  your  mar- 
riage portion.  Mr.  Sipos,  would  you  be  so  good 
as  to  place  these  documents  in  the  hands — of  the 
proper  person?" 

Mr.  Sipos  bowed  and  promised  to  carry  out  the 
mournful  commission. 

"And  now,  my  girl,  the  marriage-contract  is  be- 
fore you,  the  baron  has  already  signed  it  and 
awaits  your  decision  in  the  adjoining  room.  Show 
us  what  a  nice  hand  you  can  write." 

And  Henrietta  did  show  it.  She  signed  her 
name  there  in  such  pretty  little  delicately  rounded 
letters  that  it  looked  as  if  some  fairy  had  breathed 
a  spell  upon  the  page. 

"And  just  one  thing  more,  my  dear  young 
lady,"  put  in  Mr.  Sipos  politely,  "while  the  pen 
is  still  in  your  hand,  would  you  be  so  good  as  to 
write  down  on  the  cover  of  the  returned  docu- 
ments a  particular  word,  that  particular  word,  I 
mean,  which  is  known  only  to  yourself  and  one 
other  person  in  the  world,  as  a  proof  that  your  re- 
nunciation is  genuine  and  irrevocable." 


76  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

The  girl  fixed  her  mysterious  black  eyes  for  a 
long  time  on  those  of  the  lawyer.  It  was  in  her 
power  to  deceive  him  if  she  would  and  he  knew  it 
well.  At  last  she  gently  stooped  over  the  bundle 
of  papers  and  pressing  down  the  pen  with  unusual 
firmness  she  wrote  that  barbarously  sounding 
name  of  a  beautiful  bright  star :  "Mesarthim"  and 
then  quietly  laid  down  the  pen.  There  was  not 
the  slightest  sign  of  agitation  in  her  face.  Could 
it  be  the  right  word  ? 

"And  now  the  bridegroom  can  come  in  and  the 
necessary  pre-nuptial  legal  formalities  can  be  car- 
ried out." 

When  Mr.  Sipos  got  home  he  went  straight  up 
to  the  room  of  his  young  protege. 

"My  dear  fellow,"  said  he,  "I  have  brought  you 
some  medicine.  As  you  know,  medicine  is  gen- 
erally nasty  and  bitter,  but  perhaps  none  the  worse 
on  that  account.  As  I  said  beforehand,  the  young 
lady  reconsidered  her  position,  chose  the  better 
way  and  consented  to  the  marriage  with  the 
baron.  The  betrothal  is  an  accomplished  fact  and 
they  signed  the  marriage  contract  before  my 
eyes." 

"Doubtless,"  returned  Szilárd  coldly. 

"My  friend,  the  girl  did  not  make  such  a  sour 
face  over  it  as  you  are  doing.  She  was  strong- 
minded  and  decided.  I  was  amazed  at  the  com- 
posure with  which  she  addressed  her  family,  she 
was  like  the  capitulating  commandant  of  a  fortress 


SHE  IS  NOT  FOR  YOU  H 

dictating  the  terms  of  surrender.  Not  a  tear  did 
slie  shed  in  their  presence  and  yet  I  beUeve  she 
suffered." 

"Oh,  she  has  lots  of  courage." 

"I  wish  you  had  as  much.  Here  is  your  absurd 
scribble,  its  surrender  was  one  of  the  conditions 
imposed.  I  am  glad  these  mischievous  exercises 
are  safely  in  our  hands  again.  Don't  bother  your 
head  about  them  any  more!  The  girl  is  going 
away,  you  will  remain  here,  in  a  year's  time  you 
will  have  forgotten  each  other." 

Szilárd  smiled  frostily. 

"And  that  word  which  binds  us  together  or 
tears  us  asunder?"   said  he. 

"Yes,  I  thought  of  that,  too.  She  looked  me 
straight  in  the  eyes  for  a  long  time  when  I  asked 
for  it  and  I  told  her  I  wanted  the  real,  the  genuine 
word.  She  has  written  it  on  the  back  of  these 
papers,  look !" 

Szilárd  stretched  forth  a  tremulous  hand  to- 
wards the  papers,  seized  them,  turned  them  round, 
and  cast  one  look  at  the  word  written  there  and 
then  fell  at  full  length  on  the  floor,  striking  his 
head  against  the  corner  of  the  table  so  that  the 
blood  flowed. 

Mr.  Sipos,  cursing  the  whole  stupid  business 
and  wishing  the  papers  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea, 
raised  the  young  man  tenderly  and  bathed  his 
head  with  cold  water.  He  did  not  call  for  as- 
sistance (why  should  the  whole  world  be  taken 
into  his  confidence?),  but  when  the  youth  came 


78  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

to  again,  he  soothed  and  consoled  him  with  loving 
words.  And  Szilárd,  unable  to  contain  himself 
any  longer,  hid  his  head  in  the  good  old  man's 
bosom,  pressed  his  lips  to  his  hand  and  wept  long 
and  bitterly. 

3f»  3fC  3|C  ^  ^  3(C  57C 

A  fortnight  later  the  marriage  of  Baron  Háts- 
zegi and  Henrietta  Lapussa  was  solemnized  with 
great  pomp  and  befitting  splendour.  The  bride 
bore  herself  bravely  throughout  the  ceremony, 
and  they  tell  me  that  her  lace  and  her  diamonds 
were  fully  described  in  all  the  fashionable  papers. 


CHAPTER  VI 

BRINGING  HOME  THE  BRIDE 

In  those  days  there  were  no  railways  in  Hun- 
gary. It  took  a  whole  week  to  travel  post  from 
Pest  to  the  depths  of  Transylvania,  with  relays  of 
horses  provided  beforehand  at  every  station.  On 
the  very  day  after  the  wedding  the  young  bride 
set  out  on  her  journey.  She  had  only  stipulated 
that  they  should  set  off  very  early  before  anyone 
was  up  and  stirring.  They  travelled  in  two  car- 
riages. In  the  first  sat  the  bride  and  Clementina, 
who  had  begged  and  prayed  so  urgently  to  be  al- 
lowed to  accompany  the  young  lady  that  to  get  rid 
of  her  they  had  at  last  consented.  The  poor  thing 
fancied  she  would  better  her  position  thereby:  it 
was  not  from  pure  love  of  Henrietta  that  she  had 
been  so  importunate.  In  the  second  carriage  sat  the 
baron  and  Margari.  Alargari  was  just  the  sort 
of  man  the  baron  wanted.  He  was  a  scholar  who 
could  be  converted  into  a  domestic  buffoon  when- 
ever one  was  required.  Now-a-days  it  is  difficult 
to  catch  such  specimens,  all  our  servants  have 
become  so  stuck-up.  Henrietta  did  not  dare  to 
ask  how  far  they  were  going,  or  where  they  were 
to  pass  the  night,  she  felt  so  strange  amidst  her 
new  surroundings.    Her  husband  was  very  oblig- 

79 


8o  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

ing  and  polite  towards  her, — in  fact  he  gave  her 
no  trouble  at  all. 

Towards  the  evening  they  stopped  at  a  village 
to  water  the  horses  and  there  Hátszegi  got  out  of 
his  carriage  and,  approaching  his  wife's,  spoke  to 
her  through  the  window:  "We  shall  rest  in  an 
hour,"  said  he.  "We  shall  put  up  for  the  night  at 
the  castle  of  an  old  friend  of  mine,  Gerzson  Satra- 
kovich.  He  has  been  duly  apprised  of  our  coming 
and  expects  us." 

But  the  promised  hour  turned  out  to  be  nearly 
two  hours.  The  roads  were  very  bad  here  and  it 
was  as  much  as  the  carriage  wheels  could  do  to 
force  their  w^ay  through  the  marshy  sand.  The 
monotonous  Bucnkak''^  which  extended  desolately, 
like  a  billowy  sandy  ocean,  to  the  very  horizon, 
were  overgrown  with  dwarf  firs  that  looked  more 
like  shrubs  than  trees.  Not  a  village,  not  a  hut 
was  anywhere  to  be  seen.  From  the  roadside 
sedges,  flocks  of  noisy  wild-geese,  from  time  to 
time,  flew  across  the  sky  which  the  setting  sun 
coloured  yellow.  At  last  a  great  clattering  and 
rattling  gave  those  sitting  in  the  carriage  to  un- 
derstand that  they  were  passing  into  a  courtyard 
and  the  carriage  door  was  opened.  Henrietta 
got  out.  The  young  wife  looked  around  with  the 
same  sort  of  curiosity  which  a  robber  condemned 
to  a  long  term  of  imprisonment  and  conveyed  to  a 
distant  jail  might  feel  on  first  surveying  his  new 
environment. 

*  Sand  hills. 


BRINGING  HOME  THE  BRIDE       8 1 

In  the  midst  of  a  spacious  courtyard,  sur- 
rounded by  stone  walls,  stood  an  old-fashioned 
mansion  with  a  verandah  in  front  of  it,  resting  on 
quadrangular  columns  which  one  ascended  by  a 
staircase  whose  brick  parapet  served  as  a  lounge 
both  for  the  gentlemen  guests  and  their  hey- 
dukes  whenever  they  wanted  to  take  their  ease, 
— though,  of  course,  the  gentlemen  occupied  one 
end  of  it  and  the  heydukes  the  other.  A  couple  of 
favourite  dogs  were  also  accommodated  with  a 
place  there.  But  when  the  carriages  stopped  in 
front  of  the  verandah,  every  one  instantly  quitted 
this  favourite  sun-lit  resting  place  and  rushed 
down  to  meet  them — host,  guests,  heydukes,  and 
dogs. 

The  first  to  reach  the  carriage  door  was  a  pecu- 
liar looking  man,  a  more  repulsively  mutilated 
creature  it  was  impossible  to  imagine.  He  might 
have  been  fifty,  but  it  was  difficult  to  read  his  age 
from  his  face.  His  features  were  scarred  with 
ancient  scars  and  a  piece  of  his  mouth  was  miss- 
ing— and  perhaps  a  tooth  or  two  as  well,  if  one 
could  have  seen  through  his  thick  grizzled  mous- 
tache. An  eye  was  missing  on  the  same  side,  and 
half  his  face  was  tattooed  with  little  black  points 
as  if  from  an  exploded  musket.  His  nose  was  bent 
sideways  and  quite  flattened  at  the  top,  doubtless 
owing  to  a  heavy  fall.  He  had  only  three  whole 
fingers  on  the  right  hand,  the  other  two  were  fear- 
fully mutilated.  As  for  the  left  arm  it  was  hor- 
ribly distorted  from  its  natural  position,  the  elbow 


82  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

being  twisted  right  round  and  the  joint  immova- 
ble. Add  to  this  that  one  of  his  legs  was  shorter 
than  the  other.  Yet,  in  spite  of  everything,  this 
fraction  of  a  man  was  so  agile  that  he  anticipated 
all  the  others  and  was  the  first  to  courteously  kiss 
the  hand  of  the  descending  lady,  who  shrank  back 
horror-stricken  at  the  contact  of  those  crippled 
fingers. 

'*My  wife — my  friend  Gerzson,"  said  Hátszegi 
hastening  to  introduce  them  to  each  other.  The 
master  of  the  house  professed  himself  delighted 
at  his  good  fortune;  pressed  his  friend's  hand  with 
his  third  remaining  finger  and  presented  his  arm, 
the  stiff  one,  to  the  lady  who  touched  it  as  gin- 
gerly as  if  she  was  afraid  of  hurting  it. 

The  master  of  the  house  laughed  aloud  at  her 
misgivings. 

"Lean  on  it  hard  your  ladyship!"  cried  he,  "it 
won't  break,  it  is  as  strong  as  iron,  Down  Fecske, 
down  sir!"  (this  to  a  dog  who  had  expressed  his 
joy  at  the  sight  of  Henrietta  by  jumping  on  her 
shoulder.)  'T  rejoice  that  I  have  the  felicity  to 
welcome  your  ladyship.  I  have  arranged  a  great 
fox  hunt  in  your  ladyship's  honour  for  to-mor- 
row. We  are  all  fox  hunters  here.  I  hope  your 
ladyship  will  take  part  in  it?" 

*T  don't  know  how  to  ride,"  replied  the  child- 
wife  simply. 

"Oh  !  that's  nothing,  we  will  teach  you.  I  have 
got  a  good  nag  who  is  as  gentle  as  a  lamb.    We 


BRINGING  HOME  THE  BRIDE       83 

won't  let  your  ladyship  go  till  we  have  taught 
you." 

When  they  reached  the  saloon  a  number  o£ 
iackbooted,  brass-buttoned,  gentlemen  of  various 
ages  were  presented  in  turn  to  Henrietta  who  for- 
got all  their  names  the  moment  after  they  were  in- 
troduced and  was  quite  delighted  when  she  was 
conducted  to  her  room  and  left  alone  with  Clem- 
entina. 

She  had  scarce  time  to  change  her  travelling 
dress  wdien  supper  was  announced.  The  meal  was 
laid  on  a  large  round  table  in  the  midst  of  a  vast 
hall;  there  were  more  wine  bottles  than  dishes; 
the  handles  of  the  knives  and  forks  were  made 
from  the  horns  of  elks  and  the  antlers  of  stags, — 
the  principal  meats  were  cold  venison,  highly 
spiced  and  peppered  stews  and  pickled  galuska* 

"1  am  afraid  this  is  only  a  hunter's  repast,  my 
lady!"  opined  Mr.  Gerzson  conducting  Henrietta 
to  the  table,  at  which  she  and  Clementina  were  the 
only  ladies  present.  "Unfortunately  this  house 
has  no  mistress  and  an  old  bachelor  like  me  must 
serve  others  as  he  himself  is  served." 

"Then  why  don't  you  marry?"  bantered  Háts- 
zegi. 

"I  wanted  to  once,  but  it  all  come  to  nothing. 
The  bride  was  already  chosen  and  the  day  for  the 
bridal  banquet  was  fixed.  My  lady  bride  was  a 
fine  handsome  lassie.  On  the  eve  of  my  wedding 
day,  in  order  that  the  business  might  not  escape 


*  A  sort  of  large  dumpling. 


84  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

my  memory,  I  told  my  heyduke  to  place  by  my 
bed  in  the  morning  my  nice  bright  dress  boots  in- 
stead of  my  old  hunting  jacks.  Very  well !  Early 
next  morning  while  I  was  still  on  my  back  in  bed, 
I  heard  a  great  barking  and  yelping  in  the  garden 
below.  'What's  the  row?'  I  shouted.  They  told 
me  the  dogs  had  started  a  lynx  out  of  the  bushes. 
'What !  a  lynx !'  I  cried,  for  a  lynx,  let  me  tell  you, 
is  a  rare  beast  in  these  parts.  I  was  out  of  bed  in 
a  twinkling,  plunged  into  the  nice  dress  boots, 
snatched  my  gun  from  the  wall  and  was  off  into 
the  thicket.  I  soon  found  the  trail  and  after  that 
lynx  I  went.  The  dogs  led  me  further  and  fur- 
ther into  the  depths  of  the  forest  and  the  further 
I  went  the  more  fiery  grew  the  pursuit.  Once  or 
twice  I  had  a  sort  of  feeling  that  I  had  forgotten 
something  at  home,  and  I  felt  myself  all  over,  but 
no,  powder  horn,  pipe  case,  tobacco  pouch,  flint, 
steel — everything  was  there.  So  on  I  went  fur- 
ther and  further.  Again  I  felt  bothered,  but  by 
this  time  the  lynx  quite  carried  me  away  with  him 
and  kept  appearing  and  disappearing  again  in  the 
most  distracting  fashion.  Only  towards  evening 
did  I  hold  its  pelt  in  my  hand  and  home  with  it  I 
went  straightway.  And  now,  again,  an  oppressive 
feeling  overcame  me,  just  as  if  there  was  some- 
thing wrong  going  on  somewhere  in  the  world 
which  it  was  in  my  power  to  prevent.  Only  in  the 
evening  when  I  was  pulling  off  my  dress  boots  did 
it  flash  across  me  that  I  ought  to  have  been  present 
at  my  wedding  that  very  day.    And  so  matters  re- 


BRINGING  HOME  THE  BRIDE       85 

mained  as  they  were,  for  my  bride  was  so  angry 
with  me  for  my  forgetfulness  that  she  went  away 
and  married  a  lawyer  fellow.  No  doubt  she  got 
the  right  man,  but  since  then  I  have  had  no  desire 
for  matrimony." 

The  company  laughed  heartily  at  this  jest,  and 
then  attacked  the  patriarchal  banquet  with  tremen- 
dous appetite,  nor  did  they  wait  to  be  asked  twice 
to  fill  their  glasses.  Henrietta,  naturally,  did  not 
touch  anything.  Even  at  ordinary  times  she  ate 
very  little,  but  now  there  was  nothing  at  all  she 
fancied.     Mr.  Gerzson  was  in  despair. 

"My  dear  lady,"  said  he,  "you  eat  so  little  that 
if  I  were  a  day  labourer  I  could  easily  support 
you  on  my  wages." 

The  compan}'  laughed  aloud  at  this.  The  idea 
of  a  day  labourer  with  such  hands  and  feet  as  that ! 

Then  Gerzson  proceeded  to  relate  to  them  the 
exploits  or  misadventures  in  which  his  various 
limbs  had  more  or  less  come  to  grief.  "And 
now,"  concluded  he,  "I  will  tell  your  ladyship  how 
I  came  by  this  scar  on  my  forehead.  A  few  3''ears 
ago  I  was  visiting  our  friend  Leonard,  your  hus- 
band, my  dear  lady,  at  his  castle  at  Hidvár,  and 
whilst  there  we  spent  two  weeks  among  the  gla- 
ciers." 

"Night  and  day?"  enquired  the  astonished  Hen- 
rietta. 

"Well,  at  night  we  built  ourselves  huts  out  of 
the  branches  of  fir  trees.  If,  however,  no  rain  fell 
we  encamped  in  the  open  round  our  watch-fire 


86  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

snugly  wrapped  up  in  our  bundás"^.  Splendid  fun 
I  can  tell  you!  For  two  days,  when  our  stores 
gave  out,  we  lived  on  nothing  but  bilberries  and 
broiled  bear's  flesh." 

"You  were  badly  off  then." 

"No,  on  the  contrary,  the  paws  of  a  bear  are 
great  delicacies,  only  we  had  no  salt  to  salt  them 
with." 

"Why  did  you  not  return  home?" 

"We  could  not,  for  four  days  together  we  had 
been  on  the  track  of  a  blood-bear.  Do  you  know 
what  a  blood-bear  is  ?  A  bear  is  a  very  mild,  harm- 
less sort  of  a  beast  in  general,  and  is  quite  content 
with  honey,  berries,  and  roots;  but  let  him  once 
taste  blood  and  he  rages  about  like  a  lion,  and 
more  than  that,  he  has  a  decided  preference  for 
human  blood  before  all  other  kinds  of  blood.  We 
had  been  pursuing  one  of  these  old  malefactors 
four  days  running,  as  I  have  said;  four  times  we 
got  within  range  of  him  and  four  times  he  broke 
away.  He  carried  a  few  bullets  away  with  him  be- 
neath his  hide,  indeed,  but  a  lot  he  cared  about 
that!  He  gave  one  or  two  of  our  badly-aiming 
huntsmen  a  clout  on  the  head  which  sent  them 
flying,  stripped  the  skin  from  the  head  of  one  of 
the  beaters  and  then  took  refuge  in  the  wilderness. 
Friend  Leonard  and  the  other  gentlemen  now 
wanted  to  abandon  the  chase,  for  they  were  fright- 
fully hungry  and  the  heavy  rain  and  rock  scram- 
bling had  pretty  well  torn  our  clothes  from  our 

•  Sheepskins. 


BRINGING  HOME  THE  BRIDE       8/ 

bodies,  yet  I  urged  them  to  make  another  attempt 
on  the  morrow.  I  assured  them  that  if  they  beat 
up  the  wood  once  more  we  should  capture  the 
bear.  The  whole  lot  of  them  were  against  me. 
Friend  Leonard  insisted  that  v/e  should  not  catch 
him,  as  a  bear  never  remains  in  the  place  where 
he  has  been  wounded,  but  runs  on  and  on  night 
and  day;  by  this  time  he  would  have  got  right 
across  the  border  into  Wallachia.  'Very  well !'  I 
said,  'What  do  you  bet  that  he  is  not  quite  near 
and  we  shall  come  upon  him  to-morrow?'  Leonard 
replied  he  would  bet  me  two  to  one  we  shouldn't. 
'All  right !'  said  I.  'I'll  pay  you  a  hundred  ducats 
if  we  don't  find  Bruin  to-morrow.'  'And  I'll  pay 
you  a  thousand  if  we  do,'  said  he.  So  the  bet  was 
clinched.  Next  morning  in  a  thick  mist  we  sent 
out  the  beaters  while  we  ourselves  stood  on  our 
guard.  Leonard  and  I  took  up  our  post  near  a 
ravine  waiting  impatiently  for  the  mist  to  disperse. 
Towards  mid-day  it  began  to  clear.  No  end  of 
stags  and  foxes  ambled  slowly  past  us,  but  we  did 
not  even  aim  at  them ;  the  bear  was  our  watch- 
word. The  beaters  had  pretty  nearly  finished 
their  work.  We  were  standing  only  fifty  paces  or 
so  apart,  so  we  began  to  chat  together.  'I  begin  to 
be  sorry  for  your  hundred  ducats,'  said  Leonard. 
'I  am  still  sorrier  for  the  lost  bear's  skin,'  said  L 
'It  is  in  Wallachia  by  this  time !'  he  replied.  Behind 
my  back,  some  ten  yards  off,  was  the  opening  of  a 
narrow  hole;  there  were  hundreds  such  in  the 
rocks  all  about,  'Come,  now !'  I  cried,  'suppose  my 


88  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

bear  has  stowed  himself  away  in  this  hollow!'— 
and  there  and  then,  like  a  mischievous  little  boy,  I 
poked  the  barrel  of  my  gun  into  the  hollow  and 
fired  OÍÍ  a  couple  of  shots  in  quick  succession,  A 
frightful  roar  came  from  the  depths  of  the  cavern. 
The  wild  beast  during  all  this  noise,  clamour  and 
beating  about  the  bush  was  actually  behind  my 
back  holding  his  tongue, — and  a  splendid  big  beast 
he  was,  two  heads  taller  than  I  and  with  tusks  like 
a  wild  boar.  In  a  moment  he  was  upon  me,  and  I 
had  already  discharged  my  two  barrels.  It  is  all 
over  with  me  now,  I  thought !  Why,  it  will  be 
nothing  at  all  to  a  magnificent  beast  like  this  to 
tear  such  a  wretched  creature  as  myself  limb  from 
limb !  Erect  on  his  hind  legs  he  came  straight  at 
me,  smashing  my  hunting-knife  at  a  single  blow, 
and,  enfolding  me  in  his  terrible  arms,  he  tried  to 
mangle  my  features  with  his  teeth.  At  the  last  mo- 
ment I  called  to  Leonard :  'Shoot  between  us,  old 
chap !  you  will  hit  one  of  us  anyhow !'  I  preferred 
being  killed  by  a  bullet  to  being  torn  to  bits.  The 
next  instant  a  report  sounded,  and  I  was  only  just 
aware  that  the  pair  of  us,  still  tightly  embraced, 
were  rolling  backwards  into  the  bottom  of  the 
ravine.  There,  however,  the  thick  undergrowth 
held  us  up,  and  I  perceived  that  my  bear  was  quite 
done  for.  The  bullet  had  gone  clean  through  his 
ear.  Yes,  a  masterly  shot  on  Leonard's  part  it 
was,  I  must  confess — at  fifty  paces  at  the  very 
moment  when  the  bear's  head  and  mine  were  near 
enough  for  kissing.    And  I  do  think  it  was  so  nice 


BRINGING  HOME  THE  BRIDE       89 

of  Leonard  to  risk  a  shot  for  me,  when  if  he  had 
simply  allowed  me  to  be  torn  to  pieces  he  would 
have  saved  his  thousand  ducats,  for  he  lost  his 
bet,  you  see.  Not  only  did  he  liberate  me,  but  he 
paid  a  thousand  ducats  for  doing  so." 

"He  acted  like  a  true  gentleman  !"  they  all  cried. 
It  was  the  general  opinion. 

''Your  ladyship  will  see  this  splendid  bear  skin 
at  Hidvár,  it  is  a  real  treasure  for  a  hunter,  I  can 
tell  you.  And  in  fact  if  I  had  had  the  choice  I 
would  much  rather  have  had  the  bear  skin  than 
the  thousand  ducats,  and  the  exchange  would 
have  been  much  better  for  me  too  in  the  long  run, 
for  I  should  have  the  skin  to  this  day,  whereas  the 
thousand  ducats  were  forcibly  taken  from  me  at 
Déva  by  that  villain,  Fatia  Negra."* 

"Who  is  that?"  enquired  Henrietta  curiously. 

"A  famous  robber-chieftain  in  these  mountains 
whom  they  can  never  lay  hands  upon." 

Henrietta  cast  anxious  glances  around -her. 

But  here  Hátszegi  cooll}^  interrupted  him  by 
striking  his  plate  with  his  fork :  "I  won't  have  my 
wife  frightened  to  death  by  your  highwayman 
yarns."  cried  he,  and  changed  the  conversation. 
Shortly  afterwards  Henrietta  went  to  her  cham- 
ber, leaving  her  husband  with  Mr,  Gerzson  and 
his  guests. 

Such  was  Henrietta's  first  night  after  her  mar- 
riage. She  at  least  was  so  far  fortunate  as  not  to 
be  obliged  to  see  her  husband.    Towards  morning 

•  Black  face. 


90  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

she  dozed  off,  and  when  she  awoke  again  she 
found  that  the  whole  company  had  long  ago  set  off 
fox-hunting,  nor  did  they  return  till  late  in  the 
evening,  tired  out,  wet  through,  and  dripping  with 
sweat.  Henrietta  meanwhile  had  discovered  the 
remains  of  a  dilapidated  library  in  an  old  dis- 
used huntsman's  hut,  had  ferretted  out  of  it  a 
few  Latin  books,  and  had  amused  herself  with 
them, — at  least  so  far  as  she  w^as  able,  for  many  of 
the  leaves  had  been  torn  out  and  used  as  tindér. 

It  is  notorious  that  tired  sportsmen  are  about 
the  dullest  dogs  on  earth;  so  Henrietta  felt  that 
she  would  not  lose  much  when  her  husband  told 
her  she  had  better  go  to  rest  early,  as  they  must 
be  up  betimes  next  morning.  And,  indeed,  next 
morning  they  were  off  so  early  that,  except  their 
old  host,  not  one  of  the  hunting  party  was  there  to 
bid  them  God  speed !  But  he  again  conducted  his 
lady-guest  to  her  carriage  on  his  crippled  arm  and 
arranged  her  cushions  comfortably  for  her  with 
his  three-fingered  hand. 

It  was  a  very  fine  day  for  a  journey,  and  the 
v/indows  of  the  two  carriages  were  let  down  so 
that  Henrietta  was  able  to  view  the  landscape 
stretching  out  before  her.  She  had  never  been 
here  before,  it  was  all  new  to  her.  She  discovered 
from  Clementina's  lamentations  that  they  had  still 
a  three  days'  journey  before  they  reached  home, 
and  that  they  would  spend  the  coming  night  at  the 
castle  of  Count  Kengyelesy.  The  coachmen  had 
told  Margari  so,  and  he  passed  the  news  on  to 


BRINGING  HOME  THE  BRIDE       91 

Clementina.  It  also  appeared  that  Count  Keng- 
yelesy  was  a  very  curious  sort  of  man,  who  con- 
tradicted Baron  Hátszegi  in  everything,  yet  for  all 
that  they  were  never  angry  with  and  always  glad 
to  see  each  other.  The  count  was  also  said  to  have 
a  young  wife  who  did  not  love  him.  So  ran  the 
gossip  of  the  servants.  It  was  all  one  to  Henrietta 
what  they  said  about  Count  Kengyelesy  and  his 
consort. 

Between  five  and  six  in  the  afternoon  they 
reached  the  count's  castle,  which  lay  outside  the 
village  in  the  m.idst  of  rich  tobacco  and  rapeseed 
fields,  and  enclosed  on  three  sides  by  a  splendid 
English  garden ;  the  place  was  arranged  with  taste 
and  evidently  well-cared  for. 

That  the  count  expected  the  arrival  of  the 
Hátszegis  was  evident  from  the  fact  that  dinner 
was  awaiting  them.  Kengyelesy  was  a  little  puny 
bit  of  a  man  with  very  light  bright  hair,  white  eye- 
lashes, and  a  pointed  chin  made  still  more  pointed 
by  a  long  goatish  beard.  It  always  pleased  him 
very  much  when  his  friends  confidentially  assured 
him  that  he  had  a  perfect  satyr-like  countenance. 

His  wife  was  a  young,  chubby,  lively  lady  with 
smiling  blue  eyes  unacquainted  with  sorrow, 
whom  her  husband  on  the  occasion  of  a  hal  pare 
at  Vienna  had  seen,  fallen  in  lovewith,  and  carried 
off.  although  the  girl's  father,  a  retired  Field-mar- 
shal, was  quite  ready  to  surrender  her — they  pre- 
ferred, however,  the  romance  of  an  elopement. 

The  countess  received  her  ladv-guest  with  the 


92  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

most  effusive  heartiness,  called  her  by  her  Chris- 
tian name  on  the  spot,  and  invited  her  to  do  that 
same  with  her.  She  told  Henrietta  she  was  to  fed 
quite  at  home,  dragged  her  all  over  the  castle,  and 
showed  her  in  rapid  succession  her  rare  flowers, 
her  Parisian  furniture,  her  Japimese  curiosities; 
played  something  for  her  on  the  piano,  made  her 
parrot  talk  to  her  and  incontinently  popped  on  her 
finger  a  large  and  beautiful  opal  ring,  which  she 
told  her  she  was  to  keep  as  an  eternal  souvenir. 

Then  the  countess  seized  the  hand  of  the  child- 
wife  and  led  her  into  her  bed-chamber.  On  the 
wall  hung  a  fine  large  battle-piece,  a  splendid  oil 
painting  by  a  Viennese  master. 

"A  magnificent  picture,  is  it  not?"  enquired  the 
countess  with  a  broad  smile. 

"Yes,"  replied  Henrietta  absently. 

"How  do  you  like  the  central  figure  ?  I  mean  the 
hero  on  horseback  with  the  standard  in  his  hand  ?" 

"He  is  handsome,  but  it  seems  to  me  that,  situ- 
ated as  he  is,  he  smiles  too  much." 

The  countess  laughed  loudly  at  this  remark. 

"That,"  said  she,  "is  the  portrait  of  a  young 
hussar  officer  who  for  a  long  time  paid  his  court 
to  me.  I  could  not,  of  course,  keep  his  portrait  in 
my  room,  for  there  everyone  would  know  all  about 
it,  so  I  had  a  battle-piece  painted  in  all  round,  and 
nobody  suspects  anything.  Oh !  my  friend,  if 
women  were  not  so  inventive,  they  would  often 
be  very  unhappy.  But  that,  mind !  is  a  secret ;  not 
a  soul  must  know  about  it." 


BRINGING  HOME  THE  BRIDE       93 

Henrietta  grew  pensive.  She  also  had  her  se- 
cret, but  she  would  tell  it  to  nobody,  not  even  on 
her  death-bed.  She  also  had  a  portrait  written  in 
ineffaceable  characters  in  her  heart,  yet  between 
him  and  her  stand  two  infinite  obstacles,  the  one  a 
betrayed  star  whose  name  is  Mesarthim,  the  other 
that  unbetrayable  thing,  whose  name  is — woman's 
honour ! 

"Madame  est  sei'vieí'  cried  the  epauletted 
lacquey,  and  the  countess  drawing  her  arm 
through  Henrietta's,  led  her  into  the  dining-room, 
where  the  gentlemen  already  awaited  them. 

After  dinner  the  humorous  young  countess  en- 
tertained Henrietta  for  a  long  time  with  her  amus- 
ing chatter.  She  told  her,  at  the  very  outset, 
things  that  young  wives,  as  a  rule,  only  confide  to 
their  most  intimate  friends.  She  told  her,  for  in- 
stance, how  very  jealous  her  little  Squirrel  was 
(she  called  her  husband  by  this  pet  name)  and 
how  he  would  never  take  her  to  Vienna  or  Pest, 
because  he  suspected  that  she  might  find  someone 
there  to  interest  her.  Anything  like  correspond- 
ence on  her  part  was  of  course  impossible ;  a  wise 
woman  will  always  have  sense  enough  never  to 
part  with  a  line  of  writing.  Everything  else,  she 
witnesses,  treacherous  servants,  for  instance — can 
always  be  disowTied ;  but  there  is  no  defence 
against  a  letter  which  has  fallen  into  the  wrong 
hands.  Oh  no !  she  knew  a  trick  worth  two  of  that. 
Whenever  the  Squirrel  went  to  Vienna,  she  gave 
him  a  list  of  articles  required  by  her  from  a  mo- 


94  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

(liste  in  the  town,  on  this  list  are  set  down  hats, 
head-dresses,  muffs,  and  other  similar  articles. 
Sguirrel  always  reads  this  list  over  ten  times  at 
least,  but  finds  nothing  in  it  to  excite  his  suspi- 
cions. But  it  regularly  escapes  his  attention  what 
day  is  indicated  by  the  date  at  the  head  of  the  list, 
for  he  can  never  tell  for  the  life  of  him  on  what 
day  of  the  month  such  or  such  a  day  will  fall.  Now 
at  the  head  of  this  list  stands,  instead  of  the  date 
on  which  the  goods  are  to  be  sent,  the  date  up  to 
which  the  Squirrel  intends  to  divert  himself  at  Vi- 
enna. This  list  the  Squirrel  in  person  conveys  to 
the  modiste,  who  communicates  with  the  person 
whom  it  most  concerns,  and  the  Kengyelesy 
puszta^  will  not  seem  the  end  of  the  world  to 
whomsoever  has  a  magnet  in  his  heart  to  draw 
him  thither. 

Henrietta  was  amazed  and  confounded  by  this 
new  science,  the  very  alphabet  of  which  was  un- 
known to  her.  Even  when  she  lay  in  bed  she  rumi- 
nated for  a  long  time  how  it  was  possible  that 
certain  things  which  break  the  hearts  of  some  peo- 
ple are  nevertheless  regarded  by  other  people  as 
mere  frolics  all  their  lives. 

The  next  morning  everyone  arose  late.  The  gen- 
tlemen had  been  up  till  the  small  hours  and  were 
hard  to  wake.  They  all  met  together  in  the  break- 
fast-room. Hátszegi  and  his  host  were  preparing 
for  the  journey.  The  count  asked  the  young  wife 
what   she  had   dreamt  about,   "for,"   added   he, 

*  Heath.    But  also,  as  in  this  place,  used  to  designate  the  uncut 
terated  land  forming'  part  of  a  nobleman's  estate. 


BRINGING  HOME  THE  BRIDE       95 

"whatever  one  dreams  about  the  first  night  in  a 
strange  place  is  sure  to  come  true." 

Henrietta  did  not  hke  to  speak  of  her  dreams; 
her  waking  thoughts  were  too  often  interwoven 
with  them. 

"And  3^ou,  you  great  silly,"  said  the  countess 
to  her  husband  in  a  bantering  tone,  "did  you 
dream  anything  of  me?" 

"Yes,  darling,  I  dreamt  that  we  shall  spend  the 
coming  winter  in  Vienna.  Don't  put  so  much 
sugar  in  my  tea !" 

"What !  not  for  such  a  nice  dream  as  that.  Will 
it  really  come  to  pass?" 

"Most  certainly,  pussy.  We  will  go  there 
together  after  the  bathing  season  is  over." 

The  countess  possessed  sufficient  self-control  to 
conceal  her  delight. 

"By  the  bye."  said  Kengyelesy,  turning  to  Hen- 
rietta, "how  does  your  ladyship  like  the  Keng- 
yelesv  puszta f" 

"Very  well." 

"And  the  castle?" 

"That  is  nice  too." 

"Don't  you  think  it  a  good  joke  that  yesterday 
your  ladyship  and  your  honoured  husband  were 
my  guests,  whilst  to-day  we  are  your  ladyship's 
guests  and  that,  too,  without  our  having  to  move 
out  of  the  house?" 

"How?"  enquired  the  astonished  Henrietta. 

"Why,  we  made  an  agreement  this  very  morn- 
ing whereby  friend  Leonard  is  going  to  take  over 


gú  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

the  whole  property  and  everything  belonging  to  it 
— not  you,  my  dear,  of  course,"  this  to  his  wife, 
''I  mean  the  nags  and  the  cows — and  henceforth 
this  house  belongs  to  you." 

"Don't  forget  to  invite  the  countess  to  Hidvár 
for  the  vintage  festival,"  whispered  Hátszegi  to 
his  wife. 

Henrietta  accordingly  made  the  effort,  and 
when  they  rose  from  the  breakfast  she  timidly  ex- 
pressed the  wish  that  the  Kengyelesys  would  do 
them  the  honour  to  return  their  visit  at  Hidvár. 

"Oh,  we  will  be  sure  to  come!"  the  fair 
countess  hastened  to  reply,  "Squirrel  will  bring 
me  to  you  in  the  autumn  and  we  will  remain  a 
whole  month." 

Kengyelesy  also  courteously  accepted  the  in- 
vitation and  then  taking  Henrietta's  little  hand  be- 
tween his  own  palms  so  that  he  could  just  manage 
to  kiss  the  tips  of  her  fingers,  he  said  to  her  in  a 
strange  and  piteous  sort  of  voice :  "But  then  you 
must  promise  to  love  our  friend  Leonard  here  a 
little  better  than  you  have  done  hitherto." 

A  shudder  ran  through  Henrietta's  body  at 
these  words.  The  very  air  of  the  room  was  all  at 
once  difficult  to  breathe,  and  she  only  felt  better 
when  she  sat  in  the  carriage  again.  But  even  there 
she  was  haunted  by  some  unendurable,  undefin- 
able,  torturing  feeling  whicli  struck  her  still  more 
unpleasantly  when  Clementina  remarked:  "Yes, 
there  is  nothing  but  good  land  on  this  pnssta." 

Why,  what  could  it  matter  to  the  honest  crea- 


BRINGING  HOME  THE  BRIDE       97 

ture  whether  the  land  was  good  or  not,  it  was 
surely  all  one  to  her  ? 

"Two  thousand  acres  in  one  lot,  nothing  but 
first-class  land." 

"How  do  you  know  that?"  asked  Henrietta. 

"Margari  told  me  he  drew  up  the  agreement 
and  witnessed  it,  and  yet  no  money  was  paid 
down." 

"What  do  you  mean  by  that?" 

"Did  not  your  ladyship  then  understand  the  al- 
lusion the  count  made  just  now  when  he  asked 
you  to  love  your  husband  a  little  more  than  hith- 
erto?" 

"What  has  such  nonsense  to  do  with  me  ?" 

"He  meant  by  that  that  he  who  is  unlucky  in 
love  is  lucky  at  play ;  for  last  night  my  lord  baron 
played  cards  with  my  lord  count  and  won  from 
him  the  whole  Kengyelesy  estate  straight  ofi." 

Henrietta  felt  like  one  who  is  in  the  embrace  of 
the  boa-constrictor  and  unable  to  defend  himself. 
She  had  not  expected  this. 

But  Clementina  was  only  too  delighted  to  have 
something  to  chatter  about.  "And  do  you  know, 
your  ladyship,"  she  continued,  "the  baron  and  the 
count  have  been  rivals  for  a  long  time,  and  each 
has  always  been  trying  his  hardest  to  ruin  the 
other — in  a  friendly  way,  of  course.  The  chamber- 
maid told  Margari,  and  Margari  told  me.  "I  will 
not  be  content,  comrade,'  my  lord  baron  used  to 
say  to  my  lord  count,  'till  one  of  us  is  reduced  to 
his  last  jacket,  and  as  soon  as  one  of  us  is  abso- 


98  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

lutely  beggared,  the  other  will  hold  himself  bound 
to  maintain  him,  in  a  way  befitting  a  gentleman 
till  the  day  of  his  death.'  Strange  men  these, 
madame,  eh!" 

Perceiving,  however,  from  Henrietta's  looks 
that  there  was  something  depressing  to  her  young 
mistress  in  her  narration,  she  tried  to  soften  the 
effect  of  her  words  by  intimating  that  the  count 
had  another  property  besides,  although  not  such  a 
nice  castle,  and  also  that  it  was  open  to  him  to 
buy  back  the  former  estate  in  thirty  years'  time  if 
he  could  find  the  money. 

"That  will  do,  Clementina,  my  head  aches 
badly!"  said  Henrietta.  She  wished  to  rid  herself 
of  this  uncalled-for  gabble,  in  order  that  slie 
might  devote  herself  to  her  own  thoughts. 

And  what  thoughts !  She  had  had  no  idea  that 
such  things  could  be.  How  was  it  possible  that 
two  men  who  called  themselves  friends,  could 
ruin  one  another  thus  in  cold  blood  ?  How  was  it 
possible  that  a  man  could  enter  the  house  of  an 
affectionate  host  as  a  welcome  guest  in  the  even- 
ing, and  by  next  morning  leave  him  not  an  inch 
of  land  on  which  to  put  his  foot,  or  a  roof  to  cover 
his  head!  "And  one  has  to  get  accustomed  to 
such  things !"  thought  she. 

All  the  day  long  their  journey  lay  through  that 
brain-wearying  plain  whose  endless  flatness  op- 
pressed soul  and  body  with  its  monotony  and  soon 
drove  her  back  to  her  own  thoughts.  Towards 
evening  there  were  signs  of  rain.     Clouds  were 


BRINGING  HOME  THE  BRIDE       99 

rising  and  then,  at  least,  there  would  be  some- 
thing new  to  point  at  in  the  eternal  monotony 
of  the  sky.  Unfortunately  clouds  have  the  bad 
habit  of  bringing  tempests  along  with  them,  and 
tempests  are  evil  travelling  companions  on  the 
steppes  of  the  Alföld  *  The  towers  of  the  town 
they  were  trying  to  reach  were  still  only  dimly 
visible  on  the  horizon.  In  ordinary  weather  it 
would  not  have  mattered  if  they  had  arrived  late, 
for  they  had  reckoned  upon  the  moonlight;  but 
there  could  be  no  moon  to-night,  instead  of  her  a 
storm  full  of  angry  lightnings  was  approaching. 
Already  from  afar  they  could  hear  it  rumbling  as 
it  drove  dust-clouds  before  it,  could  hear  that 
peculiar,  continuous,  roar  as  of  some  giant  hand 
playing  uninterruptedly  on  the  keys  of  some  terri- 
ble organ.  Whoever  has  been  caught  on  thr 
Alföld  in  a  storm  knows  the  meaning  of  that 
wind;  it  means  that  the  tempest  is  bringing  hail 
with  it. 

One  thing  was  now  certain :  they  must  turn 
aside  somewhere.  All  that  Henrietta  observed, 
however,  was  that  her  carriage  stood  still  for  a 
moment,  and  then  Hátszegi's  carriage  went  on  in 
front,  the  baron  himself  seizing  the  horses'  reins 
and  shouting  to  the  coachman  behind  him  :  "After 
me  as  hard  as  you  can  tear!"  With  that  they  left 
the  road  and  plunged  right  across  country  through 
ditches  and  swamps  and  low,  marshy  ground  till 
the  water  came  up  to  the  very  axles  of  the  wheels 

•  The  great  Hungarian  plain. 


lOO  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

and  Clementina  shrieked  that  they  were  perish- 
ing. But  there  was  no  need  to  be  afraid.  Hátszegi 
was  a  skilful  coachman,  who  could  ever  find  his 
way  even  where  there  was  no  way  at  all.  About 
a  four  hours'  journey  off,  a  pump  now  became 
visible,  and  beyond  it  a  little  hut  loomed  white 
and  high,  there  they  must  seek  a  refuge  from  the 
tempest  as  it  passed  over  them.  And  indeed 
they  had  only  just  reached  the  small  court-yard 
when  the  first  lumps  of  ice  as  big  as  nuts,  began 
bombarding  the  windows  of  the  carriages. 

"Quick,  quick,  into  the  house!"  cried  Hátszegi. 
The  baron  himself  helped  his  wife  and  Clementina 
to  descend  and  hurried  them  in  beneath  the  veran- 
dah, which  was  made  of  crooked  branches  and 
hung  over  the  kitchen  door  like  a  shade  over  the 
forehead  of  a  weak-sighted  man. 

On  their  approach  the  woman  of  the  house 
emerged  from  the  kitchen  with  her  head  tied  up  in 
a  red  handkerchief.  She  was  no  longer  young,  but 
ruddy,  robust,  bright-eyed,  and  bustling,  and  as 
full  of  sparkle  as  if  she  had  just  sprung  out  of  the 
fire. 

On  perceiving  her  guests  she  clapped  her  hands 
together. 

"Lord  deliver  us,  if  it  isn't  his  lordship !  And 
only  just  married  now,  eh ! — after  all  these  years ! 
But  which  is  the  bride,  your  lordship  ?  Surely  not 
this  one  (pointing  to  Clementina)  for  she  is  an 
old  dear! — and  yet  the  other  is  but  a  child!" 


BRINGING  HOME  THE  BRIDE     IOÍ* 

The  baron  hastened  to  interrupt  this  uncalled- 
for  outburst. 

"Come,  come,  my  good  woman !  No  chatter 
now,  please,  for  the  hail  will  be  upon  us  in  a  mo- 
ment; but  take  these  ladies  into  a  room  and  see 
that  it  is  clean  and  comfortable.  Henrietta!  pray 
get  out  of  the  rain." 

The  csárda  woman  kissed  Henrietta's  hand 
with  great  familiarity  and  kept  on  saying  in  a 
quavering  voice:  "Oh,  thou  tender  little  creature! 
to  think  of  giving  them  to  husbands  so  early!" 
cried  she.  But  Clementina,  who  was  always  nerv- 
ous in  strange  places,  called  the  baron's  attention 
to  the  fact  that  loud  masculine  voices  were  pro- 
ceeding from  somewhere  within  the  csárda. 

"Have  you  anyone  here  now?"  enquired  the 
baron  of  the  csárda  woman. 

"Yes,  three  or  four  lads  and  Ripa.  The  old  fel- 
low has  just  been  released  from  the  prison  at 
Arad.  I  don't  know  whether  he  served  his  full 
time.  Pray  walk  in !" 

"They  are  not  robbers,  are  they?"  asked  Clem- 
entina hesitating. 

"No,  dear  heart  alive,  there  are  no  robbers  in 
these  parts,  but  only  poor  vagabonds.  You  will 
not  find  robbers  nearer  than  the  Bakony  forest. 
These  poor  fellows  hurt  nobody,  least  of  all  ladies. 
I  don't  count  old  Ripa  at  all,  but  only  the  other 
three.  It  would  be  another  thing  if  Blackey  were 
here,  for  he  is  a  fine  gentleman  and  likes  to  amuse 

•Inn. 


I02  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

himself  with  the  ladies.  But  don't  think,  dear 
soul,  that  his  features  are  black,  oh,  dear,  no !  I 
call  him  'Blackey'  because  he  always  wears  a  mask 
of  black  velvet  lest  he  should  be  recognized,  only 
his  eyes  and  mouth  are  ever  visible." 

And  with  such  comforting  assurances  she  es- 
corted Henrietta  and  Clementina  up  the  narrow 
staircase. 

They  had  to  pass  through  the  long  tap-room 
before  they  came  to  the  inner  parlour.  At  the  guest 
table  vv'ere  sitting  three  hardy  looking  young  fel- 
lows and  an  old  pock-marked  man,  a  foxey-eyed 
rascal  who  drank  out  of  the  others'  glasses  from 
time  to  time  and  kept  the  conversation  going. 

"Come!  shut  up,  Ripa!"  said  the  landlady  to 
the  old  man.  "This  is  no  Jew-Madame,  but  the 
spouse  of  my  lord.  Baron  Hátszegi.  Show  your 
manners  if  you  have  any  and  thank  her  for  the 
honour." 

The  old  rascal  rose  from  his  bench  with  cunning 
humility  and  twisting  up  both  ends  of  his  gray 
moustache,  politely  kissed  ííenrietta's  hand,  and 
would  have  paid  the  same  compliment  to  Clemen- 
tina if  the  landlady  had  not  prevented  him  by 
shouting:  "Leave  her  alone,  she  is  only  a  sort  of 
servant !" 

With  that  she  led  the  ladies  into  the  inner  room, 
where  were  two  lofty  bedsteads  reaching  to  the 
beams  above,  covered  with-  bright  bedding  and 
prettily  painted  over  with  tulips  and  roses.  In  the 
window   screens   were  wide-spreading   rosemary 


BRINGING  HOME  THE  BRIDE     103 

and  musk  plants.  In  front  of  one  of  the  great 
chests  stood  a  spinning  wheel.  From  this  the  land- 
lady, winter  and  summer,  spun  off  that  fine  thread 
from  which  were  woven  those  bright  and  gay 
handkerchiefs  which  could  be  seen  bobbing  about 
in  the  doorway  of  the  inn  from  afar.  One  would 
never  have  expected  to  find  such  ease  and  comfort 
in  a  csárda  of  the  puszta. 

The  landlady  very  politely  divested  Henrietta  of 
her  travelling  clothes,  made  a  soft  resting  place  for 
her  with  cushions  in  an  arm-chair,  put  a  stool  be- 
neatii  her  feet,  and  in  less  time  than  it  took  to 
draw  a  breath,  totted  up  ten  different  kinds  of 
dishes  that  she  might  choose  from  them  the  one 
she  liked  best.  Perhaps  she  would  like  some  leaf- 
cake?  It  was  just  cooking  and  would  be  served 
up  immediately,  and  she  began  spreading  the  ta- 
ble with  a  nice  horse-cloth.  Clementina  wkis- 
pered  Henrietta  to  beware  of  poison,  whereupon 
Henrietta  told  the  landlady  that  she  would  have  a 
bit  of  that  nice  dish,  and  when  it  came  she  really 
enjoyed  it,  though  she  did  not  know  what  it  was, 
at  which  the  landlady  was  infinitely  pleased. 

Meanwhile  Hátszegi  came  in  after  seeing  that 
the  carriages  were  put  into  a  dry  place.  He  took 
no  notice  of  the  poor  vagabonds,  but  hastily  de- 
manded a  change  of  clothes,  as  his  own  were  soak- 
ing, and  was  amazed  to  see  Henrietta  handling 
her  knife  and  fork  so  well ;  it  was  the  first  time  on 
the  whole  journey  that  she  had  eaten  with  appe- 


I04  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

tite.  Henrietta  said  that  this  peasant  roast  suited 
her  taste. 

"  And  now,  Dame  Kardos,  will  you  put  the  la- 
dies up  for  the  night? "  said  Hátszegi  to  the 
woman  of  the  csárda. 

"Certainly,"  returned  the  worthy  woman,  "I 
have  feather  mattresses  enough  and  bedsteads 
enough  for  as  many  guests  of  quality  as  your  lord-, 
ship  likes.  This  ted  will  be  my  lord  baron's  and 
this  my  lady's,  and  this  the  lady  attendant's !" 

"Not  so  quick,  not  so  quick!  I  shall  not  lie 
here." 

"  Not  lie  here?  "  .cried  this  child  of  the  puszta.'* 
Why,  pray?" 

"Oh!  I'll  find  some  place  or  other  in  the  tap^ 
room  outside." 

"It's  a  way  great  folks  have,  I  suppose,"  mur- 
mured Dame  Kardos,  shrugging  her  shoulders, 
"but  I  never  saw  or  heard  the  likes  of  it  before." 

"But,  my  lord,"  lisped  Clementina,  greatly  agi- 
tated, "won't  those  wild  vagabonds  outside  dis- 
turb you?" 

"Me?"  exclaimed  Hátszegi,  "how  the  devil  can 
they  disturb  nief  " 

"They  are  such  wicked  men,  surely?" 

"I  don't  care  what  sort  of  men  they  are."  And 
with  that  he  went  out  with  the  utmost  sang  froid; 
nay,  as  Clementina  herself  noticed,  he  drew  forth 
his  pocket  pistols  and  left  them  behind  him  on  the 
table. 

"His  lordship  has  no  need  to  fear  such  men," 


BRINGING  HOME  THE  BRIDE     105 

the  landlady  reassured  the  ladies,  "for  he  can  talk 
to  them  in  their  own  lingo." 

Henrietta  did  not  understand.  Did  robbers  then 
speak  a  dialect  peculiar  to  themselves?  She  be- 
came quite  curious  to  hear  how  Hátszegi  would 
speak  to  the  robbers  in  their  own  language. 

But  the  landlady  knew  exactly  what  to  do.  She 
filled  a  kulacs-'^  for  the  baron  and  placed  it  on  the 
table  before  him.  Hátszegi  took  a  good  pull  at  it, 
dried  the  mouth  of  the  kulacs  and  passed  it  on  to 
the  old  pockmarked  vagabond  who,  after  raising 
his  cap,  took  a  little  drop  himself  and  then  passed 
it  on  to  the  others. 

"Well,  old  fellow,  is  the  wine  good?" 

"Wine  is  always  good." 

"Have  you  had  enough?" 

"One  can  never  have  enough." 

"Then  God  grant  you  plenty! — By  the  way, 
does  the  wind  still  blow  through  the  crevices  of 
the  prison  door  at  Arad?" 

"It  blows  for  him  who  lists  to  it.  Let  him  who 
likes  it  not  close  his  ears  to  it." 

"Have  many  children  been  born  to  the  gov- 
ernor of  the  jail  lately  ?'t 

"Yes,  lots  have  been  born  there — and  christened 
too."$ 

"Has  the  daughter  of  the  cord§  been  married 
lately?" 

*  A  wooden  field-flask. 

t  Whenever  a  new  convict  arrives  at  the  jail,  the  governor  is 
said  to  have  another  son  born  to  him. — Jokai. 
%  i.  e.,  with  stripes. — Jokai. 
§  A  flowery  expression  for  the  gallows.— i/otat. 


I06  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

"Only  Marczi  Csendes  has  been  elevated  lately. 
He  was  a  fool.  He  took  the  crime  of  two  com- 
rades on  his  shoulders  in  order  to  let  them  go  free. 
They  were  caught  in  the  act,  but  he  swore  he  did 
the  deed.  They  were  young  bloods,  you  see,  and  ' 
he  had  nobody  to  care  for  him.  And  yet  it  was 
they  who  presented  the  empty  pistol  at  the  Jew's 
head.  The  Jew  himself  pointed  them  out.  but 
Marczi  steadfastly  maintained  that  it  was  he  who 
frightened  the  fellow." 

"So  they  made  him  cold  against  the  winter 
time?" 

"Yes,  but  he  didn't  very  much  care.  The  hour 
before  his  execution  he  took  an  affectionate  leave 
of  his  comrades,  and  to  me  he  bequeathed  his 
warm  old  sheepskin.  When  the  priest  asked  him 
whether  he  had  anything  upon  his  conscience,  he 
merely  said  the  only  thing  that  grieved  him  was 
the  thought  that  he  would  never  again  be  able  in 
this  life  to  eat  his  fill  of  well  peppered  gulyás* 
such  as  old  Ripa  knew  how  to  cook.  They  hu- 
moured him,  and  I  was  sent  into  the  kitchen  to 
prepare  it.  My  old  friend  ate  with  a  good  appe- 
tite and  wanted  me  to  take  a  bit  too;  but  my 
throat  felt  as  cramped  as  if  they  had  already  taken 
my  measure  round  it  with  the  gallows  rope.  He 
gave  each  of  the  two  heydukes  who  accompanied 
him  in  the  felon's  car,  one  on  his  right,  the  other 
on  his  left,  a  silver  coin  apiece.  The  heydukes  told 
us  afterwards  that  when  he  got  outside  he  rose  up 

•  Hungfarian  pilau. 


BRINGING  HOME  THE  BRIDE     107 

in  the  car  and  addressed  the  people.  He  was  a 
tall,  handsome  fellow  with  red  cheeks,  long  black 
hair  and  a  fine  sonorous  voice  like  any  chaplain's. 
His  last  words  were :  'Well,  I  now  look  upon  this 
fair  world  for  the  last  time.'  " 

"Did  he  leave  behind  him  any  new  songs,"  en- 
quired Hátszegi.  '*He  was  always  a  famous 
singer." 

"Yes,  one  he  made  in  jail,  and  a  splendid  song 
it  was  too,  I  can  tell  you.  Bandi !  pipe  it  to  his 
lordship  on  your  tilinka  as  I  have  taught  you." 
At  these  words  one  of  the  youths  drew  forth  from 
his  sleeve  one  of  those  flutes  made  of  elder-wood, 
which  in  Hungarian  goes  by  the  name  of  a  tilinka, 
and  which  with  its  poor  six  holes  is  able  to  give 
forth  as  many  variations  as  the  throat  of  a  lark; 
then,  without  any  virtuoso  airs  he  simply  piped 
the  plaintive  melody. 

The  baron  was  immensely  pleased.  "Margari." 
cried  he,  "go  to  the  carriage,  look  for  my  fiddle 
and  bring  it  hither!" 

At  this  command  poor  Margari  had  a  veritable 
ague  fit  of  terror.  All  this  time  he  had  remained 
ducking  down  in  the  carriage  firmly  persuaded 
that  the  robbers  in  this  lonely  place  would  cut 
down  every  mother's  son  of  them  at  nightfall.  In 
such  a  case  he  was  prepared  to  swear  that  he  had 
never  belonged  to  the  party  at  all.  but  would  pre- 
tend he  was  only  a  poor  tramp,  and  so  escape  that 
way.  And  now  the  baron  had  ruined  his  little  plan 
by  ordering  him  to  come  forth!    The  robbers 


lo8  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

would  now  absolutely  believe  that  he  also  was  a 
swell.  Oh,  it  is  a  frightful  situation  when  a  poor 
devil  has  managed  to  get  a  loo  gulden  into  his 
purse  for  the  first  time  in  his  life  and  is  obliged  the 
very  next  evening  to  put  up  at  an  inn  full  of  rob- 
bers !  What  the  devil  did  the  baron  want  with  the 
fiddle  at  all  ?  And  then  what  sort  of  a  thing  was  a 
fiddle  ?  When  a  man  is  terrified  he  easily  mistakes 
one  thing  for  another  and  Margari's  first  experi- 
ment was  to  carry  in  to  the  baron  a  long  leaden 
box  containing  the  territorial  chart  of  the  Keng- 
yelesy  estate — was  that  what  his  lordship  wanted  ? 

"Have  you  lost  your  wits,  Margari?  How 
could  you  possibly  get  a  fiddle  into  that  ?  Or  has 
the  fellow  never  cast  eyes  on  a  fiddle  ?  Bandi,  you 
go  and  look  in  the  carriage  for  the  fiddle !" 

But  this  was  not  at  all  to  Margari's  liking. 
What,  send  that  vagabond  to  the  carriage  to  ferret 
about  there!  His  lordship  must  have  clean  taken 
leave  of  his  senses.  Why,  in  the  carriage  was  Mar- 
gari's own  brand-new  mantle,  for  which  he  had 
paid  nine  and  twenty  gulden.  The  vagabond  would 
be  sure  to  la}^  his  hands  upon  it.  No,  he  would 
rather  go  to  look  for  the  fiddle  himself.  So  he 
found  the  violin  case  at  last  somehow,  and  hand- 
ing it  to  the  baron  through  the  csárda  window 
(for  he  durst  not  trust  himself  inside),  he  retired 
again  beneath  the  coach-house,  although  the  rain 
was  now  splashing  down  upon  it. 

Baron  Leonard  took  from  its  morocco  case  his 
splendid   Straduarius,   that  relic  of  the  greatest 


BRINGING  HOME  THE  BRIDE     109 

master  of  fiddle-making,  for  which  he  had  paid 
a  small  fortune,  and  following  the  lead  of  the 
young  vagabond's  tilinka  played  the  bitter-sweet 
melancholy  air  on  the  sonorous  instrument,  and  at 
the  third  trial  he  enriched  it  with  so  many  varia- 
tions as  to  astonish  everyone.  Then  Ripa  became 
enthusiastic  and  chimed  in  with  his  hoarse  old 
voice. 

When  the  baron  once  had  the  violin  in  his 
hands,  he  was  not  content  with  playing  a  single 
song,  one  melody  enticed  another  forth,  and  so, 
one  after  another,  his  fiddle-bow  ran  through  all 
those  rhapsodies  of  the  last  century,  those  compo- 
sitions of  the  "Gipsy-Beethoven,"  Bihari,  and 
other  great  popular  masters,  with  the  most  classi- 
cal variations.  Princes  listen  not  to  such  a  concert 
as  now  resounded  through  that  wretched,  desolate 
csárda.  Even  Henrietta  arose  from  her  couch  the 
better  to  enjoy  these  melancholy  airs.  If  ever  in 
her  life,  it  was  at  this  moment  that  she  beheld  her 
husband  in  an  aureole  of  dazzling  light  which  irre- 
sistibly attracted,  overpowered,  subdued. 

One  thing,  however,  struck  her  as  strange,  in- 
credible— how  could  a  fashionable  man  brought 
up  in  the  atmosphere  of  elegant  saloons,  find  any 
pleasure  in  playing  hravoura  pieces  in  the  tap 
room  of  a  miserable  csárda  to  an  audience  of  half- 
tipsy  vagabonds  ?  Was  this  an  habitual  diversion 
of  these  wealthy  magnates,  or  was  it  only  Háts- 
zegi's  bizarre  humour?" 

However,  when  "the  lads"  began  to  chime  in  a 


no  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

little  too  vigourously,  Hátszegi  restored  the  violin 
to  its  case,  took  out  his  pocket-book,  opened  it  be- 
fore them  all  and  nonchalantly  displayed  as  he  did 
so  the  bundles  of  thousand-gulden  notes  which  it 
contained.  Nay,  he  searched  among  them  for 
stray  ten-gulden  notes  and  gave  one  to  each  of  the 
four  vagabonds  "  for  the  fine  song  they  had 
taught  him" — that  was  the  way  he  put  it — at  the 
same  time  requesting  them  to  quit  the  tap-room, 
as  the  ladies  in  the  adjoining  chamber  wanted  to 
sleep  and  must  not  be  kept  awake  by  any  further 
noise.  The  vagabonds  must  seek  a  couch  else- 
where. 

The  vagabonds,  without  the  slightest  objection, 
arose,  drank  up  the  dregs  of  the  wine,  pocketed 
the  bank-notes  without  so  much  as  a  "thank  you !" 
and  settled  down  for  the  night  on  the  roof  of  the 
coach-house — to  the  great  terror  of  Margari,  who 
was  concealed  in  one  of  the  coaches  and  did  not 
have  a  wink  of  sleep  all  night,  his  teeth  chattered 
so. 

But  Hátszegi,  when  the  drinkers  had  with- 
drawn, spread  out  his  hunting  pelisse  on  the  long 
table,  laid  down  thereon  and  quietly  fell  asleep. 
He  did  not  even  shut  the  door,  nor  did  he  have  his 
pistols  by  him. 

In  the  adjoining  chamber,  meanwhile,  the 
csárdá-wom^Ln  had  brought  out  her  spindle,  set  all 
its  many  wheels  a-working  and  began  to  tell  her 
ladyship  a  lot  of  those  wondrous  tales  that  have 
neither  beginning  nor  end,  piis.zta  adventures,  the 


BRINGING  HOME  THE  BRIDE     ill 

atrocities  of  vagabonds  and  their  fellows,  the  sad 
love  stories  of  poor  deserted  maidens  and  such 
like.  And  all  the  while  the  wheels  of  the  spindle 
whirr-whirr-whirred  monotonously,  and  Henri- 
etta felt  like  a  little  child  whose  nurse  sits  beside 
her  bed  and  lulls  her  to  sleep  with  fairy  tales.  For 
weeks  she  had  not  enjoyed  so  quiet  and  dream- 
less a  slumber  as  she  had  that  night  beneath  the 
roof  of  the  csárda  in  the  midst  of  the  lonely 
pussta. 

Next  morning  Clementina,  after  first  making 
quite  sure  that  nobody  had  had  his  or  her  throat 
cut  during  the  night,  was  moved  by  curiosity  to 
ask  what  sort  of  connection  his  lordship  had  with 
this  csárda  since  he  seemed  to  know  everybody  in 
it.  And  then  she  learnt  that  not  only  this  csárda 
but  the  whole  of  the  surrounding  puszta  also  was 
the  property  of  his  lordship,  for  which  the  people 
who  lived  upon  it  paid  very  little  rent,  inasmuch 
as  his  lordship  did  not  look  upon  it  as  a  source  of 
income  but  chiefly  valued  it  on  account  of  its  nu- 
merous reedy  lakes  where  he  was  wont  every  year 
to  hunt  water-fowl  and  beavers  on  a  grand  scale. 
Moreover,  from  this  spot  to  his  own  house,  a 
good  two  days'  journey  by  foot,  everything  be- 
longed to  his  lordship's  estate.  Nay.  his  lordship, 
if  he  liked,  could  traverse  the  whole  kingdom 
from  Deva  to  Pest,  and  be  on  his  own  property 
the  whole  time,  it  was  only  like  moving  from  one 
of  his  houses  to  another. 

The  next  day  the  Hungarian  plain  came  to  an 


112  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

end  and  the  Transylvanian  Alps  drew  nearer  and 
nearer.  In  the  evening  they  descended  into  a  lit- 
tle mining  town  whose  forges  and  furnaces  were 
all  illuminated  in  honour  of  the  arriving  guests. 
Henrietta  then  learnt  that  this  mining  town  also 
belonged  to  her  husband. 

On  the  third  day,  quite  early  in  the  morning, 
they  crossed  the  Transylvanian  frontier.  The 
whole  of  that  splendid  region  seemed  to  smile,  but 
the  faces  of  its  inhabitants  are  sad  and  mysterious. 
Henrietta  had  a  peculiar  sense  of  anxiety  during 
her  stay  among  these  angry  looking  people  who 
spoke  a  language  she  had  never  heard  before.  At 
intervals  of  a  mile  all  along  the  road  a  roughly 
carved  cross  shot  up,  covered  with  clumsily 
carved  letters,  which  did  not  in  the  least  resemble 
those  we  are  accustomed  to.  Clementina  once 
asked  the  coachman  what  these  crosses  might 
mean  and  repented  doing  so  immediately  after- 
wards, for  he  informed  her  that  they  marked  the 
places  where  unlucky  travellers  had  come  by  an 
untimely  death ;  the  inscriptions  were  the  records 
of  the  tragic  romances  through  the  scene  of  which 
they  were  passing. 

The  valleys  grew  narrower  and  narrower,  the 
road  wound  upward  among  precipices,  and  the 
loquacious  coachman  attached  horrible  stories  to 
every  rock  and  ruin.  Each  valley  seemed  to  have 
its  own  particular  ghost. 

Here  and  there  by  the  roadside  stood  silent 
houses  not  one  of  which  had  an  inviting  appear- 


BRINGING  HOME  THE  BRIDE     113 

ance,  it  would  never  have  occurred  to  a  human 
soul  to  knock  at  any  of  them,  even  at  midnight,  to 
ask  for  a  night's  lodging.  They  were  all  of  them 
sooty  dilapidated  shanties,  which  might  easily 
have  been  taken  for  stables,  consisting  of  a  single 
room  in  which  the  whole  family  lived,  livestock 
and  all.  The  church  often  lay  far  away  from  the 
settlement  as  if  it  belonged  to  two  villages  equally. 

Then  the  road  rose  again  between  bare  and  bar- 
ren cliffs,  where  only  here  and  there  a  solitary 
bush  seemed  to  cling  to  the  rocky  wall.  There 
was  no  trace  of  a  garden,  but  here  and  there  was 
a  fenced  in  space  in  which  the  Roumanians  are 
wont  to  unload  their  hay,  with  a  long  pole  stick- 
ing up  in  the  midst  of  the  hay  ricks  to  prevent  the 
wind  from  carrying  it  away,  or  else  the  hay  was 
piled  up  on  the  branch  of  a  living  tree  like  a  bird's 
nest. 

Down-pouring  mountain  streams  traversed  the 
path  at  interv^als,  over  which  never  a  bridge  is 
built,  all  cars  and  coaches  must  cross  by  the  fords. 
From  the  depths  of  the  wooded  mountain  slopes 
was  reflected  the  blood-red  glare  of  iron  works 
and  foundries,  and  the  droaning  monotonous  din 
of  the  machinery  scares  away  the  stillness  till  it 
loses  itself  in  the  loud  murmuring  of  the  moun- 
'  tain  torrents. 

At  every  fresh  mile,  Henrietta  felt  how  lonely 
she  was  in  this  strange  world,  whose  giant  moun- 
tains shut  her  out  from  the  very  prospect  of  the 
familiar  places   from  which  &he  had  come  and 


114  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

from  every  possibility  of  returning ;  and  whose  in- 
habitants would  not  even  be  able  to  answer  her  if 
she  were  to  ask  them :  "Which  is  the  way  back  to 
my  native  place?" 

They  travelled  onwards  till  late  at  night  by  the 
light  of  the  moon.  Hidvár  was  now  close  at  hand. 
As  the  prospect  opened  out  on  both  sides,  at 
the  turn  of  a  narrow  defile,  suddenly,  like  a  pic- 
ture in  a  black  frame,  between  two  mountain 
slopes,  thickly  covered  with  dark  beech-trees,  the 
castle  of  Hidvár  came  full  in  view,  standing 
lonely  and  isolated  on  the  summit  of  a  hill.  The 
mountain  torrent  shot  swiftly  down  beneath  a 
shaky  bridge.  The  round  moon  stood  straight 
over  the  tower  of  the  castle,  as  if  it  had  been  im- 
paled on  the  point  of  it,  and  painted  everything 
with  its  silvery  light,  the  tower,  the  bastions,  the 
brook  and  the  valley — only  one  thing  it  brightened 
not,  the  heart  of  the  young  wife. 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE  CAVERN  OF  LUCSIA 

Not  so  very  long  ago  there  was  in  Transylvania 
a  wide-spreading  society  of  coiners  which,  it  is 
now  notorious,  had  carried  on  its  nefarious  busi- 
ness undetected  for  more  than  half  a  century. 
The  science  was  an  inheritance  descending  from 
father  to  son,  people  married  and  were  born  into 
it.  Careful  parents  trained  their  children  to  fol- 
low it,  and  a  very  lucrative  profession  it  proved  to 
be.  That  it  should  have  remained  undiscovered 
for  so  long  a  time,  that  it  should  have  been  plied 
successfully  for  more  than  fifty  years  under  the 
very  noses  of  the  authorities — all  this  was  capable 
of  a  very  simple  explanation,  these  men  coined 
gold  pieces. 

Yes,  genuine  ducats,  of  full  weight,  out  of  real 
three-and-twenty  carat  gold,  without  any  admix- 
ture of  baser  metal,  so  that  they  absolutely  could 
not  be  distinguished  from  the  royal  ducats  of  the 
authorized  minting  towns,  Körmöcz  and  Gyulafe- 
hérvár. If  they  fell  into  the  hands  of  a  goldsmith, 
and  he  melted  them,  he  found  that  they  did  not 
contain  half  a  grain  more  silver  than  the  genuine 
ones.  Indeed  the  public  lost  nothing  by  their 
fabrication,   though   the   state   treasury   suffered 

considerably. 

115 


Il6  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

The  whole  region,  in  fact,  from  Zalathna  to 
Verespatak  abounded  in  that  precious  metal 
which  some  fool  or  other  has  called  "a  mere 
chimera,"  and  the  gold  mining  was  farmed  out  to 
private  individuals,  the  yearly  output  from  the 
shafts  being  twelve  hundredweights.  These  pri- 
vate diggers  are  bound  to  deliver  the  gold  they 
obtain  to  the  minting  towns  at  Abradbanya  or 
Gyulafehérvár  and  there  receive  coined  money  in 
exchange.  Nevertheless,  during  some  fifty  years, 
only  about  six  hundredweights  were  delivered  an- 
nually at  these  places;  the  rest  disappeared, 
though  at  first  nobody  could  suspect  it.  The  State 
pays  to  the  diggers  441  guldens  for  every  pound 
of  gold  dust,  which  quantity  when  coined  is  worth 
720  guldens.  But  it  occurred  to  the  mountaineers 
that  they  also  might  profitably  engage  in  coining 
and  circulate  the  money  so  coined.  So  they  pro- 
vided themselves  with  all  the  necessary  imple- 
ments and  machinery  (there  were  skilled  work- 
men among  them )  and  issued  false  ducats  to  their 
very  great  advantage.  Their  existence  was  not 
even  suspected  except  by  the  parties  interested  in 
the  concern,  and  they  had  every  motive  in  the 
world  for  preserving  the  secret. 

Travelling  from  Abradbanya  up  towards 
Bucsum,  one  might  have  seen  two  riders  toiling 
up  the  mountain  along  the  stream  overshadowed 
by  dark  alders;  one  of  them  was  a  grey-haired, 
gigantic  Roumanian,  the  other  a  proud-looking 


THE  CAVERN  OF  LUCSIA  1 17 

young  woman.  The  old  man  wore  a  lambskin 
mantle,  on  his  head  he  carried  a  tall  pointed  cap, 
also  of  lambs'  wool,  drawn  down  over  his  eye- 
brows, his  body  was  carelessly  girdled  with  a 
golden  girdle.  His  rich  grey  locks  were  plaited 
into  two  thick  pig-tails  which  reached  down  to  his 
broad  shoulders,  and  his  snow-white  moustache 
hung  down  from  his  mouth  like  two  seamew's 
wings.  A  coarse  sack  lay  in  front  of  him  across 
his  saddle,  both  ends  of  which  appeared  to  be  full 
of  something  heavy ;  across  the  sack  lay  his  fowl-- 
ing-piece. 

The  fair  cavalier  was  sitting  on  a  small,  wild, 
shaggy  horse,  which  constantly  evinced  a  praise^ 
worthy  endeavour  to  overtake  the  rider  in  front 
of  him;  his  mistress  with  difficulty  held  him  in. 
She  was  one  of  those  famous  Roumanian  beauties. 
Her  features,  the  cut  of  her  lips,  her  full  chin  could 
have  stood  as  a  model  beside  any  antique  statue. 
And  then  those  sparkling  eyes,  that  vividly  red 
complexion,  those  coal-black  eyebrows — they 
made  an  ideal  beauty  of  her.  And  the  picturesque 
Roumanian  costume  enhanced  her  charms.  Her 
black  hair,  twisted  into  a  double  plait,  was  bound 
round  with  a  flaming-red  scarf,  and  on 
her  head  she  wore  a  round  hat,  trimmed  with 
pearls  and  garnished  in  front  with  a  row  of  gold 
pieces  which  reached  down  to  her  marble-white 
forehead.  Moreover,  her  fine  cambric  shirt  em- 
bellished with  bright  flowers  and  gold  ornaments 
fitted  so  closely  as  to  betray  the  outlines  of  her 


Ii8  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

harmonious  figure.  Wound  ten  times  round  her 
neck  she  wore  a  necklace  of  gold  coins  extending 
down  to  her  bosom.  As  she  rode  along  (and  she 
sat  astride  her  saddle  like  a  man),  every  now  and 
then  one  could  catch  glimpses  beneath  her  variega- 
ted girdle  of  her  red  morocco  boot-s  and  of  a 
Turkish  dagger,  with  a  massive  silver  handle, 
gleaming  forth  from  their  shafts.  On  each  side  of 
her  holsters  peeped  forth  a  double-barrelled  pistol 
with  an  ivory  handle. 

When  the  old  man  stopped  to  water  his  horse 
at  the  spring  gushing  forth  from  the  black  slate 
rock,  he  said  to  the  girl :  "Anicza,  when  did  you 
speak  last  with  Fatia  Negra  ?" 

"Just  a  month  ago.  It  was  at  the  time  of  the 
full  moon,  like  it  is  now.  He  then  said  that  he 
was  going  away  on  a  long  journey." 

"And  yet  he  has  already  been  at  home  these 
two  days.  I  saw  his  sign  over  against  my  win- 
dow." 

"Impossible.  It  cannot  be,"  cried  the  girl  pas- 
sionately. 

"What  cannot  be?  Do  you  think  I  am  dream- 
ing or  lying?" 

"If  he  were  at  home,  he  would  have  come  to 
see  me  ere  this." 

The  old  man  shrugged  his  shoulders, 

"And  yet  he  did  not  come.  But  the  day  before 
yesterday,  about  midnight,  I  found  the  three  owl- 
feathers  there  in  the  window." 

"The  wind  carried  them  thither." 


THE  CAVERN  OF  LUCSIA  119 

"The  wind  did  not  carry  them  thither  for  they 
were  stuck  fast  in  putty.  And  only  we  three  know 
what  that  means.  Fatia  Negra  would  speak  with 
us  and  we  are  going  to  meet  him  in  the  Lucsia 
cavern." 

"It  cannot,  cannot  be — three  days  at  home  and 
never  to  come  to  me — to  me!" 

"  Who  knows?  "  said  the  old  man  coolly,  tight- 
ening his  saddle  girth,  "a  whole  month  is  a  long 
while,  long  enough  for  the  moon  herself  to  change 
four  times.  There  are  many  pretty  wenches  on 
the  other  side  of  the  mountain.'" 

"O  no!  such  a  one  as  I  am  he  will  not  find 
there,"  said  the  girl  proudly,  glancing  into  the 
tremulous  water-mirror  which  threw  back  a  dis- 
torted likeness  of  her  defiant  face — "and  besides 
he  knows  very  well  that  I  should  murder  him  were 
such  a  woman  to  mock  me." 

"Ah,  ah!"  mocked  the  old  man,  "so  Fatia 
Negra  is  afraid  of  you,  eh?" — and  with  that  he 
swung  himself  back  into  his  saddle  with  youth- 
like agility.  "Black  Face  fears  nobody,  I  tell  you. 
He  is  not  even  afraid  of  the  commandant  of 
Gyulafehérvár,  nur  of  the  lord-lieutenant  of 
Krasna,  and  they  have  no  end  of  soldiers  and  hey- 
dukes.   Nay,  he  fears  not  the  devil  himself." 

And  with  that  he  urged  on  his  horse  which 
ambled  forward  meditatively,  whilst  the  girl's  lit- 
tle nag  whinnied  in  the  rear. 

"He  may  not  fear  the  great  gentlemen,  he  may 
not  fear  the  devil,  but  I  tell  you  that  he  would  be 


I20  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

afraid  of  the  girl  he  made  to  love  him,  if  he  proved 
false  to  her." 

"So  you  really  think  he  loves  you  violently?" 
said  the  old  man  casting  a  backward  glance  at 
her. 

"He  swore  he  did." 

"To  whom?  the  priest?" 

"Go  along  with  you!     No,  to  me!" 

At  this  the  old  man  chuckled — "little  fool!" 
said  he. 

"And  if  he  breaks  his  oath  now,  the  devil  shall 
have  him.     I'll  murder  him." 

"Very  well,  I  suppose  you  know  him.  Yet  you 
have  never  seen  his  face.  If  he  were  to  tear  the 
black  velvet  mask  from  his  face  you  would  never 
recognize  him." 

"But  that  he  cannot  do  as  to  that  mask  he  owes 
all  his  power." 

"Well,  you  are  a  comical  wench — to  be  enam- 
oured of  a  man  whose  face  you  have  never  seen !" 

"I  recognize  him  by  his  voice,  by  the  beating 
of  his  heart." 

"Well,  if  I  were  a  girl  and  had  a  lover,  I  would 
insist  on  seeing  his  face.  He  should  not  come  to 
me  in  a  mask  anyhow." 

"He  cannot  put  oi¥  his  mask,  I  tell  you.  His 
oath  forbids  him  to.  The  moment  he  removes  his 
mask  from  his  face  his  power  is  gone,  and  neither 
the  devil  nor  the  good  angels  will  obey  him  any 
longer." 

"That  is  true,"  returned  the  old  man  solemnly. 


THE  CAVERN  OF  LUCSIA  I2i 

"When  he  hkes  he  can  make  himself  invisible.  I 
know  it.  He  has  always  escaped  pursuit  even 
when  the  whole  country  was  out  after  him,  and 
when  they  thought  they  had  him  fast  he  always 
disappeared  in  the  earth  or  in  the  air.  Yet,  for 
all  that,  if  I  were  his  love,  see  his  face  I  would." 

"He  told  me  I  should  die  of  fright  if  I  beheld 
it." 

"Then  I  would  die  of  fright — but  I  would  see 
it." 

"His  eyes  are  very  fine, — they  glow  like  coals." 
"Like  coals?    Perhaps  he  is  the  Dracu*  him- 
self.    Have  you  ever  tried  to  make  him  kiss  the 
amulet  on  which  is  the  image  of  St.  George  and 
the  Dragon  ?" 

"Yes  he  has  kissed  it  and  was  none  the  worse," 
"Have  you  tried  to  get  him  to  lay  his  three 
fingers  on  a  copper  crucifix?" 

"He  laid  his  fingers  thereon  and  yet  they  were 
not  burnt." 

"Can  he  say  the  prayer  of  condemnation  with- 
out trembling?  " 

"He  has  said  it  hundreds  of  times." 
"Nevertheless,  I  maintain  he  is  no  mortal  man." 
"If  he  should  love  another  woman,  I  swear  that 
he  will  very  soon  find  out  that  he  is  mortal." 

Talking  thus  the  riders  had  descended  into  the 
depths  of  the  valley,  and  when  the  mountain 
stream  again  crossed  their  path  they  quitted  the 
usual  footpath  and  followed  the  bed  of  the  stream. 

♦  Dracu-dragon, ;'.  e.,  devil. 


122  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

And  a  very  good  road  it  is  for  such  as  do  not  wish 
to  leave  foot-marks  behind  them.  The  rapid  cur- 
rent swiftly  fills  the  traces  of  the  horses'  hoofs 
with  leaves  and  pebbles. 

The  ravine  grew  ever  deeper  and  narrower,  and 
the  stream  at  intervals  formed  small  cataracts 
which  the  horses,  who  had  been  trained  thereto, 
had  to  cross.  Finally,  at  a  sudden  declivity,  the 
water  took  an  unexpected  leap  of  four  yards,  and 
when  the  riders  reined  up  at  this  very  spot,  it  was 
plain  that  here  a  mill  had  been  built  into  the  hill- 
side, whose  wheel  it  was  which  drove  the  swiftly 
plunging  water  along. 

If  a  stranger  saw  this  mill  he  would  certamly 
say :  "What  foolish  man  the  miller  must  be  who 

has  built  his  mill  here,"  ( )  and  that  for  three 

reasons.  Firstly,  because  it  was  so  concealed  be- 
neath the  thick  alders  that  even  if  one  sees  it  one 
cannot  get  at  it.  Secondly,  because  it  is  built  ex- 
actly under  the  water-fall  which  drives  the  wheel 
as  rapidly  as  a  spindle,  so  that  the  millstone  must 
needs  be  red  hot  beneath  it.  Thirdly,  because  the 
way  to  this  mill  is  so  peculiar,  passing  right 
through  the  mountain  torrent  and  then  winding 
down  to  the  door  by  way  of  a  foot-path  hewn  in 
the  naked  rock,  and  inaccessible  to  horses.  Well, 
such  a  miller  will  surely  get  but  little  grain  to 
grind ! 

When  the  two  riders  reached  this  spot  they 
sprang  from  their  horses,  led  them  into  a  little 
dry  islet  formed  by  the  alders  and  tied  them  by 


THE  CAVERN  OF  LUCSIA  1 23 

their  halters  to  the  branches.  Then  the  old  man 
lifted  the  sack  from  the  saddle. 

"  Give  me  a  lift  up,  Anicza!"  said  he. 

One  would  hardly  have  supposed  that  an  old 
fellow  of  such  a  colossal  build  would  have  re- 
quired any  help  at  all  in  order  to  get  this  sack 
across  his  shoulders,  nor  would  one  have  sup- 
posed from  the  size  of  the  sack  that  it  would  have 
been  so  heavy  to  lift  or  that  it  would  have  weighed 
so  heavily  on  the  old  man's  shoulders  that  he  had 
to  plant  his  hand  firmly  on  his  hip  in  order  to 
carry  the  load. 

Then  the  girl  drew  both  pistols  forth  from  her 
holsters,  stuck  them  into  her  girdle,  threw  the  long 
fowling-piece  across  her  shoulder  and  springing 
fearlessly  across  the  stream  from  boulder  to  boul- 
der followed  behind  the  stooping  old  man  along 
the  narrow  foot-path  which  led  to  the  mill.  In  the 
doorway  of  the  mill  stood  a  youth  clad  in  the  usual 
coarse  cloth  ''guba'  and  half  concealed  by  the 
door  post.  In  one  hand  he  held  a  double-barrelled 
musket,  an  implement  not  absolutely  necessary 
for  a  miller.  The  old  man  addressed  him  while 
still  a  good  way  off: 

"Che  timpur* 

"Luna  plina." 

A  strange  sort  of  greeting,  more  like  an  ex- 
change of  pass-words. 

Then  both  the  new  arrivals  entered  the  mill  in 
the  midst  of  which  a  dilapidated  grinding  ma- 

•  What  sort  of  weather  ? 
+  Full  moon. 


124  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

chine  was  revolving,  the  central  wheel  was  minus 
a  couple  of  teeth. 

"Plenty  of  grinding  going  on,  Paul?"  asked 
the  old  man. 

"Quite  enough." 

"Help  me  down  with  this  sack." 

"It  is  heavy  certainly,"  said  the  other,  panting 
beneath  the  strain,  "how  much  does  it  hold?" 

"A  hundredweight  and  eighty  pounds." 

"No  mere  Turkish  maize,  eh  ?" 

"Stop  the  wheel !" 

The  young  man  at  once  obeyed  by  driving  an 
iron  beam  clean  through  the  wheel  which  brought 
the  machinery  to  a  standstill.  Then  he  raised  the 
central  revolving  disc  which  was  in  connection 
with  the  millstone,  hung  in  the  hook  of  the  mill- 
stone an  iron  chain  which  was  wound  round  the 
beam  and  this  done,  laid  the  sack  and  its  contents 
on  the  bolting-hutch.  Then  the  old  man  himself, 
sat  down  on  the  hutch  and  extended  his  hand  to 
the  girl.  "J^^n^P  o"  Anicza."  And  the  girl 
jumped  on  without  help  for  she  was  as  agile  as  a 
chamois. 

"Paul,"  said  the  old  man  to  the  young  journey- 
man, "was  not  Fatia  Negra  here  before  us?" 

"He  has  not  been  through  here  either  to-d^y 
or  yesterday.  It  has  been  my  turn  to  watch  these 
last  two  days." 

"I  am  right  you  see;   he  is  not  here,"  said  the 


girl. 


"He  is  here,  I  tell  you. 


THE  CAVERN  OF  LUCSIA  125 

**Come  Onucz,"  said  the  youth,  "can  Black  Face 
make  himself  invisible  then?  He  could  not  pass 
here  without  my  knowing  it !" 

"What  do  you  know  about  it?"  answered  the 
old  man,  adjusting  himself  on  the  bolting-hutch. 
"Let  the  mill  go !" 

As  now  the  revolving  disc  or  platform  began 
to  move,  the  machinery  stood  still,  yet  the  mill- 
stone together  with  the  bolting-hutch  began  slowly 
to  sink  downwards  together  with  those  sitting 
upon  it,  and  after  some  moments,  disappeared  en- 
tirely into  a  dark  gulf,  the  chain  unwinding  and 
rattling  after  it.  Suddenly  from  the  depths  below 
resounded  the  old  man's  voice:  "Halt!"  Then 
Paul  stopped  the  mill,  hung  the  chain  in  an  iron 
ring  and  the  machinery  once  more  set  in  motion, 
raised  the  millstone  up,  Paul  fastened  the  revolv- 
ing disc  to  it  and  it  began  to  rattle  round  again 
so  furiously  that  sparks  flew  out  of  it.  Now  who- 
ever had  any  meal  to  grind  might  come,  he  was 
quite  ready  for  them. 

It  was  a  huge  subterraneous  cavern  into  which 
Onucz  and  Anicza  had  descended.  At  the  bottom 
of  this  hollow  flowed  a  branch  of  the  mountain 
stream  which  turned  the  mill  and  indeed  was  di- 
verted thither  by  means  of  wooden  pipes.  Here, 
however,  it  flowed  in  its  regular  bed,  glistening 
here  and  there  in  the  light  of  two  oil  lamps  which 
burnt  on  both  sides  of  a  small  iron  bridge  that 
traversed  the  stream. 

In  the  background  of  this  hollow  stood  a  pecu- 


126  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

liar,  roofless,  stone  building,  whose  two  round 
little  windows,  like  the  eternally  watchful  eyes  of 
some  underground  worm,  shone  with  a  red  glare 
which  dazzled  the  eyes,  while  the  slate-covered 
chimney  belched  forth  a  thick  smoke  filled  with 
sparks  into  the  subterranean  midnight. 

From  the  interior  of  the  building  resounded 
heavy  thuds  and  the  din  of  grinding  as  of  ma- 
chinery in  perpetual  motion  which  made  the  very 
foundations  of  the  rocks  quiver.  On  the  bridge 
stood  another  armed  man  with  whom  the  new  ar- 
rivals exchanged  watchwords  and  the  same  thing 
was  done  at  the  door  of  the  stone  building  where 
the  old  man  made  the  girl  stop. 

"Now  Anicza,''  said  he,  "while  I  go  in,  you  sit 
down  on  that  stone  bench  and  wait  for  me." 

"Why  cannot  I  go  into  the  house  as  well  ?"  en- 
quired the  girl,  impatiently. 

"No  more  of  that.  Once  a  year  we  come  here 
and  every  time  you  ask  again  if  you  can  come  in, 
and  every  time  I  tell  you  that  cannot  be.  And 
now  I  tell  you  once  more:  it  cannot  be — and 
there's  an  end  on't." 

"But  why  may  others  go  in  and  I  not?" 

"Why — why !  because  you  are  a  girl,  of  course. 
Leave  me  in  peace.  Women  have  no  business  in 
there,  they  are  always  so  inquisitive,  want  to  know 
everything  and  then  blab  it  all  out — it  is  their 
nature  so." 

"I'm  not  like  that." 

"And  then  whoever  enters  here  has  to  swear  a 


THE  CAVERN  OF  LUCSIA  1 27 

frightful  oath  that  he  will  divulge  nothing  that  he 
sees.  I  myself  shudder  all  over  when  I  have  to  re- 
peat it;  it  is  not  fit  for  the  mouth  of  a  woman." 

*'As  if  /  were  afraid  of  any  oath !"  cried  the  girl 
defiantly.  "I  would  say  any  thing  that  a  man 
might  say." 

"Don't  be  a  fool,  Anicza.  A  girl  cannot  come  in 
here,  because  everyone  has  to  strip  himself  stark 
naked  before  he  goes  out,  before  the  watchman, 
and  then  dress  himself  again.  So  you  see  it  won't 
do." 

This  difficulty  appeared  insuperable  even  to  the 
iron  will  of  Anicza.  It  was  a  test  even  she  could 
not  submit  to.  She  stamped  her  foot  with  rage 
and  uttered  again  and  again  the  word  Dracu, 
which  in  Roumanian  means  nothing  less  than  his 
highness  the  devil  himself. 

Old  Onucz  and  the  watchman  thereupon 
laughed  heartily,  and  the  same  instant  the  iron 
door  of  the  building  opened  and  the  girl  exclaimed 
joyfully:  "Fatia  Negra!" 

Onucz  and  the  watchman  immediately  tore  their 
caps  from  their  heads.  It  was,  indeed,  Fatia 
Negra. 

How  could  he  get  hither  invisibly  through  all 
the  ambushes  set  for  him?  Who  could  tell ?  Who 
had  the  courage  to  ask  him?  Not  even  Anicza. 
All  she  thought  of  at  that  moment  was  to  rush 
forward,  fall  upon  the  neck  of  her  mysterious 
lover  and  cover  his  eyes  and  mouth,  which  the 
mask  left  exposed,  with  kisses. 


128  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

"Let  Anicza  come  in!"  said  the  black-masked 
man,  "I'll  answer  for  her,  and  she  shall,  like  my- 
self, be  exempted  from  undressing." 

"It  is  well,  Domnule,"*  said  the  watchman, 
"but  let  her  at  least  take  the  oath  which  everyone 
here  must  swear." 

"I  am  ready,"  cried  the  girl  boldly. 

"No,  Anicza,"  replied  Black  Mask,  "you  shall 
swear  to  me  a  stronger  oath  even  than  that,  you 
shall  swear — by  our  eternal  love." 

The  proud  maiden,  trembling  with  joy,  fell  at 
the  feet  of  Fatia  Negra  at  these  words,  and  press- 
ing one  of  her  hands  to  her  heart,  raised  the  other 
aloft,  and,  raising  her  lovely  eyes — which  re- 
flected the  infernal  glare  of  the  windows — aloft, 
towards  the  smoking  canopy  above  her  head,  she 
swore  by  her  eternal  love  to  her  beloved  that  she 
would  never,  not  even  on  the  rack  itself,  betray  a 
word,  a  syllable  of  what  she  was  about  to  learn. 

But  old  Onucz  scratched  his  poll. 

"Domnule,  it  is  not  wise  of  you  to  let  women 
swear  on  such  useless  things.  It  is  just  as  if  one 
of  us  were  to  hold  a  penny  in  his  hand  and  swear 
by  that.    It  binds  nobody." 

"It  is  enough  for  me,"  replied  the  Mask,  "and 
my  head  is  no  cheaper  than  yours.  Let  him  who 
trusts  me  not  keep  away  from  here." 

And  holding  the  girl  in  his  arms,  he  carried  her 
with  him  into  the  building  while  old  Onucz  had  to 
dress  himself  from  head  to  foot  in  other  clothes 

*  Master. 


THE  CAVERN  OF  LUCSIA  129 

and  leave  those  he  had  brought  with  him  outside. 
He  would  have  on  his  return  to  put  on  his  own 
again  and  leave  these  others  behind.  Thus  smug- 
gling was  impossible. 

The  first  room  was  for  the  smelting. 

Here  there  was  nothing  to  be  seen  of  the  blazing 
fire  which  illuminated  the  dark  hollow  through 
the  windows,  in  one  comer  of  the  room  was  a 
simple  cylinder  shaped  iron  furnace  which  radi- 
ated a  burning  heat,  on  the  top  of  which  stood  a 
round  graphite  crucible  covered  in  at  the  top  and 
provided  with  a  lateral  pipe. 

"Here  the  gold  is  remélted  after  it  has  come 
out  of  the  purifying  oven,"  said  Fatia  Negra  to 
the  girl  who  pressed  close  up  to  him.  "Hereto- 
fore it  required  a  whole  apparatus  of  boilers  and 
loads  and  loads  of  wood  to  bring  it  to  smelting 
heat,  but  since  I  got  that  cylinder-stove,  ten  hun- 
dredweights of  metal  can  be  melted  in  ten  min- 
utes." 

"But  where  does  the  fire  come  from?"  enquired 
the  girl. 

"From  the  earth,  my  beloved." 

The  girl  shrank  back  with  horror,  and  yet  Fatia 
Negra  did  not  mean  hell  but  that  furnace  whose 
powerful  bellows  drove  the  melting  heat  into  the 
double  cylinder. 

He  looked  at  his  watch,  the  moment  had  come. 
At  a  single  whistle  a  couple  of  workmen  appeared, 
each  of  them  stripped  to  the  waist  on  account  of 
the  great  heat ;  they  held  in  their  hands  large  iron 


I30  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

moulds  and  stood  facing  each  other  opposite  the 
crucible.  Then  by  means  of  an  iron  tap  Fatia 
Negra  turned  the  pipe  of  the  crucible  and  imme- 
diately a  pale  glare  began  to  spread  through  the 
room — the  liquid  gold  ran  in  a  thin  jet  out  of  the 
crucible  and  that  was  the  cause  of  the  light.  Act- 
ually genuine  pure  gold  made  liquid  in  the  fire  like 
wine  in  a  glass  and  emitting  on  every  side  of  it  a 
glowing  white  radiance!  Each  of  the  two  work- 
men held  his  mould  beneath  it  and  the  girl  sur- 
veyed the  scene  with  bated  breath. 

When  the  operation  was  finished  Black  Face 
turned  to  the  girl  again  and  embraced  her  saying : 
"So  you  see,  darling,  that  is  how  gold  is  melted." 
The  girl  smiled  back  at  him ;  what  a  pity  the  Black 
Mask  could  not  smile  in  return.  And  now  old 
Onucz  came  up  with  his  sack  for  the  purifying 
furnace. 

"How  much  have  you  in  your  sack?"  asked 
Fatia  Negra. 

"A  hundredweight  and  eighty  pounds." 

"Now  we'll  see  into  how  much  pure  gold  it  will 
work  out." 

"The  dross  mixed  with  it  is  only  a  few  pounds 
in  weight." 

"Of  what  quality  is  it?" 

"Well,  they  purify  it  very  incompletely  you 
know.   It  is  only  two-and-twenty  carat  gold." 

"It  doesn't  matter :  we  will  coin  Prussian  ducats 
out  of  it." 

"But  Where's  the  mould?" 


THE  CAVERN  OF  LUCSIA  131 

"I  brought  it  with  me,  to-day;  we'll  adjust  that 
also  to  the  machine.  We  shall  gain  a  hundred 
florins  in  every  thousand." 

Old  Onucz  kissed  Fatia  Negra's  hand.  "Dom- 
nule,"  said  he,  "you*  are  a  man  indeed.  Domnule, 
since  you  became  our  chief  our  gains  have  doubled 
and  the  ducats  are  so  good  that  one  cannot  dis- 
tinguish them  from  the  Imperial  ones." 

Meanwhile  the  girl  felt  her  head  going  round  to 
hear  them  talk  of  nothing  but  money,  gold,  gain ! 

"Come  Onucz,  let  us  look  at  the  new  machin- 
ery," said  the  Mask, 

"When  did  you  bring  the  new  machinery 
here?" 

"A  long  time  ago ;  we  have  coined  a  great  deal 
of  money  since  it  first  came.  The  work  is  all  the 
quicker  and  we  need  fewer  men  to  work  it." 

They  went  into  the  next  room  through  a  low 
door,  all  three  of  them  having  to  bow  their  heads 
as  they  entered,  and  there  they  saw  a  gigantic  ma- 
chine at  work  between  whose  revolving  cylinders 
depended  the  long  gold  ingots  which  were  gradu- 
ally reduced  to  the  proper  thinness  for  making 
gold  coins. 

"Don't  you  see,  Onucz?  Hitherto  we  wasted 
too  much  time  and  labour  in  cutting  the  gold 
plates  thin  enough  and  the  edges  were  always  too 
thick  to  our  great  loss.  Now  the  machine  rolls 
them  all  out  uniformly.  It  only  cost  10,000 
ducats." 

"Very  cheap  indeed !"  cried  the  old  man,  who 


*I32  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

was  wearing  a  ragged  sheepskin  and  yet  consid- 
ered ten  thousand  ducats  a  moderate  price  for  a 
rolHng  mill. 

The  Mask  took  up  one  of  the  little  glistening 
plates. 

"Do  you  know,  my  friend,  the  name  of  this?" 
said  he. 

"No." 

"It's  name  is  Zain.  In  order  that  you  may  not 
forget  it  I  will  wind  it  round  your  arm."  And  as 
if  it  were  merely  hard  paper  he  lightly  bent  the 
gold  plate  round  the  girl's  wrist  and  then  pressed 
the  ends  of  this  improvised  bracelet  together  with 
his  steel-like  fingers.  "Don't  forget  that  this  is 
called  Zain  and  that  you  got  it  from  me." 

The  girl  looked  doubtfully  at  him  as  if  she 
would  have  said :  "Is  it  lawful  for  you  to  give 
away  everything  here  as  if  it  were  your  own." 

But  the  old  man  could  not  look  on  at  this  in 
silence.  "Alas!  alas!  Domnule,  give  not  away 
uncoined  gold.  Rather  squander  coined  gold  in 
heaps.  The  other  is  of  itself  a  witness  against  us 
and  thereby  we  shall  furnish  a  clue  to  our 
enemies." 

"It  is  in  a  good  place,"  replied  Fatia  Negra;  "it 
is  on  Anicza's  arm  and  there  it  will  keep  silence." 
Anicza  replied  to  this  apology  with  ten  kisses. 
And  she  calculated  rightly.  This  necklace  weighed 
exactly  ten  double  ducats — but  the  kisses  also  were 
double  ones. 

Then  Fatia  Negra  led  them  to  another  machine 


THE  CAVERN  OF  LUCSIA  133 

which  cut  round  gold  pieces  out  of  the  rolled  out 
"Zain."  He  showed  the  girl  how  every  clipper, 
how  every  screw  beneath  the  impulsion  of  the 
piston  did  its  proper  share  of  the  work,  and  how 
the  whole  process  was  set  going  by  steam  power 
from  without  and  could  therefore  be  directed  and 
controlled  by  one  man  with  another  man  to  relieve 
him  at  intervals. 

"Dumnezu  !"*  sighed  old  Onucz,  "when  I  think 
that  fifty  years  ago  we  did  all  this  with  only  our 
hammers  and  chisels!  We  SAveated  two  whole 
days  over  a  piece  of  work  which  this  marvel  can 
do  in  an  hour.  And  how  many  hands  we  em- 
ployed too !" 

Then  they  went  to  another  machine.  This  was 
a  small  table  whose  steel  wheels  notched  the 
ducats  before  they  passed  beneath  the  stamping 
machine.  Perpetually  moving  elastic  springs 
pushed  the  gold  pieces  forward  one  after  the 
other,  turned  them  round  and  jerked  them  away. 
You  saw  no  other  motive  power  but  a  large  wheel 
revolving  under  a  broad  strap;  the  strap  disap- 
peared through  the  floor,  it  was  underneath  there 
that  the  man  who  set  it  in  motion  lived. 

Old  Onucz  sighed  aloud.  "What  things  they 
do  invent  now-a-days,"  said  he. 

But  Anicza,  full  of  superstitious  fear,  clung 
silently  to  the  arm  of  Fatia  Negra  whom  all  these 
speechless  marvels  served  and  obeyed.     Finally, 

♦  My  master. 


134  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

descending  six  stone  steps  they  entered  the  actual 
minting  room. 

A  gigantic  screw  press  stood  in  the  midst  of  the 
low  vaulted  chamber.  Through  the  head  of  the 
screw  was  driven  a  long  moving  bar,  with  leaden 
bullets  at  both  ends  and  two  strong  fellows  were 
pushing  this  bar  backwards  and  forwards;  the 
weight  of  the  machine,  as  it  turned,  forced  the 
screw  sharply  down  and  in  a  second  it  pressed  the 
two  round  gold  pieces  laid  in  the  steel  matrix  into 
the  stamping  dies,  on  one  of  which  was  the  image 
ofthe  Mother  of  God  and  on  the  other  the  cuirassed 
likeness  of  the  reigning  monarch.  Immediately 
after  the  two  matrices  recoiled  again  of  their  own 
accord  and  the  two  powerful  men  repeated  the 
pressure.  Then  a  little  steel  ring  shifted  suddenly, 
flinging  aside  the  coined  ducat,  and  a  fresh  gold 
piece  took  its  place.  The  coined  ducats  already 
llay  in  a  heap  in  front  of  the  machine  and  the 
workmen,  now  and  then,  kicked  them  away  with 
their  feet. 

There  was  something  impressive  in  the  spec- 
tacle. Here  were  two  poor  men,  working  hard 
perhaps  for  their  daily  bread  with  little  hillocks  of 
seductive  gold  piled  up  all  around  them,  gold  of 
which  everyone  is  enamoured  in  the  earth  above 
them,  gold  for  which  so  many  men  gladly  give 
up  everything,  even  to  their  hope  in  Heaven ! 

Now  and  again  a  third  man  comes  in  and 
pitches  the  gold  into  a  linen  sack  with  a  wooden 
shovel. 


THE  CAVERN  OF  LUCSIA  1 35 

"Let  us  stamp  a  few  ducats  ourselves  by  way  of 
souvenirs,"  said  Fatia  Negra.  Anicza  assenting, 
the  workmen  stepped  aside,  and  Fatia  Negra  and 
the  girl  placed  themselves  on  either  side  of  the 
leaden  bullets  on  the  turning  bar. 

The  Mask  bade  his  sweetheart  be  careful  to 
avoid  the  recoil  of  the  machine  for  should  the 
handle  hit  her  the  blow  might  prove  fatal,  where- 
upon the  girl,  burning  to  show  off  her  great 
strength,  did  not  wait  for  the  end  of  the  bar  to  re- 
cover its  normal  position,  but  seizing  the  iron  rod 
when  it  was  only  half  way  round,  tore  it  back 
again,  with  the  result  that  the  steel  clapper  did  not 
cast  the  gold  piece  between  the  matrices  in  the 
usual  way  and  it  thus  received  a  double  impres- 
sion, being  stamped  with  a  two-fold  figure  of  the 
Mother  of  God  on  one  side  and  a  two-fold  figure 
of  the  royal  profile  on  the  other. 

Old  Onucz  rushed  towards  Anicza  and  angrily 
tore  her  away : 

"You  little  fool,  be  off!"  cried  he,  "you  will 
spoil  the  machine,  it  is  not  for  the  likes  of  you." 

But  Fatia  Negra  now  picked  up  the  ducat  which 
had  fallen  to  the  ground  and  showed  it  with  a 
smile  to  Anicza :  "Look,"  said  he,  "there  is  now  a 
double  picture  on  it." 

The  girl  turned  it  curiously  between  her  fingers. 

"And  what  w"l  happen  to  it  now?" 

"It  will  go  into  the  smelting  furnace  again." 

"Ah,  don't  destroy  it,  give  it  to  me !" 

At  this  the  old  man  fairly  lost  his  temper. 


136  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

"Are  you  out  of  your  mind  to  ask  for  such  a 
thing?  What!  a  ducat  with  a  flaw  in  it,  which,  if 
seen  in  your  hands  would  saddle  us  with  the  ven- 
geance of  the  whole  government!  Domnule,  be 
not  so  mad  as  to  let  her  have  that  ducat !  If  she 
has  no  sense,  you  at  least  be  sensible.  You  might 
ruin  the  whole  lot  of  us  with  it." 

"Well,  Anicza  will  not  wear  it  on  her  head,  I 
suppose,  or  even  on  her  neckerchief,  but  will 
fasten  it  to  a  little  bit  of  thread  and  wear  it  next 
her  heart,  there  nobody  will  find  it  but  myself." 

Onucz  would  very  much  have  liked  to  say: 
"Neither  have  you  any  right  to  look  there,  Dom- 
nule, for  you  have  not  yet  spoken  to  the  priest 
about  it" — but  this  was  the  one  thing  he  durst  not 
say. 

But  Anicza  gratefully  kissed  Fatia  Negra's 
hand  like  a  child  who  has  received  a  gift,  not  in- 
deed for  the  ducat,  but  for  the  boundless  confi- 
dence he  had  shown  in  giving  it  to  her,  which  was 
the  surest  token  of  his  love.  Then  she  drew  forth 
a  little  Turkish  dagger,  bored  a  hole  with  it 
through  the  ducat  and  fastened  it  to  a  little  piece 
of  thin  black  cord  by  the  side  of  her  little  crucifix 
which  she  wore  upon  her  bosom — and  hid  both  of 
them  away  again. 

"Well  Domnule,"  remarked  Onucz  sulkily, 
"since  we  have  placed  our  heads  in  the  girl's  hands 
we  must  beware  of  ever  offending  her." 

But  now  the  assayer  came  up,  bringing  with 
him  a  nice  elaborate  calculation  on  a  black  slate. 


THE  CAVERN  OF  LUCSIA  137 

showing  exactly  how  much  pure  gold  Onucz  had 
handed  in  to  the  coining  department,  how  much 
it  would  be  worth  when  coined  and  deducting 
three  per  cent,  for  expenses,  how  much  he  was  to 
receive  in  cash  by  way  of  exchange. 

''And  now  go  and  let  the  cashier  pay  you  what 
is  due  to  you,  Onucz,"  said  Fatia  Negra. 

And  so  while  he  remained  behind  for  the  pur- 
pose of  settling  his  account  Anicza  and  Fatia 
Negra  retired  to  a  little  adjoining  chamber.  There 
would  be  plenty  of  time  for  two  lovers  to  talk 
over  their  love  affairs  while  so  many  gold  coins 
were  being  counted  out. 

"Where  have  you  been?  it's  a  whole  month 
since  I  saw  you?''  asked  Anicza  sitting  on  the  ad- 
venturer's knee.  "Do  you  know  how  long  a  month 
is  to  me?  First  quarter,  new  moon,  full  moon, 
last  quarter,  all  this  have  I  watched  through  and 
never  saw  you  once,  where  have  you  been  ?" 

"I  have  been  abroad  for  those  new  machines. 
That  is  a  business  one  cannot  entrust  to  another." 

"Are  there  pretty  girls  abroad  ? — Might  you  not 
fall  in  love  with  them?" 

"Hush !  Those  are  not  the  questions  that  men 
should  be  asked." 

"Why  not?" 

"Because  men  are  not  in  the  habit  of  answer- 
ing them." 

"But  suppose  a  girl  wants  to  know?" 

"Then  it  will  go  badly  with  her.  Besides,  what 
do  you  want  me  to  tell  you?    Would  you  like  to 


138  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

know  that  I'm  such  a  block,  a  clod,  that  no  other 
eye  but  yours  takes  any  pleasure  in  looking  at  me  ? 
Or  would  you  like  to  hear  that  I  am  a  sort  of  her- 
mit who  has  wandered  in  disguise  through  seven 
kingdoms  and  casts  down  his  eyes  whenever  he 
encounters  a  petticoat?  Or  that  I  cross  myself 
and  turn  away  whenever  a  woman  looks  at  me? 
Or  shall  I  tell  you:  in  such  and  such  a  place  I 
nipped  the  white  cheeks  of  a  pretty  blonde,  and  in 
such  and  such  a  place  the  coquettrie  of  a  pair  of 
blue  eyes  made  me  forget  myself,  and  in  such  an- 
other place  I  bedded  my  intoxicated  head  in  the 
arms  of  a  brunette? — and  that  after  wandering 
through  seven  kingdoms  I  have  found  no  lovelier 
girl  than  my  own  enchanting  Anicza?" 

The  girl  could  neither  reply  nor  scold,  for  her 
mouth  was  closed  fast  with  kisses. 

"You  know  I  am  very  jealous,"  she  said  at  last, 
when  she  was  able  to  tear  herself  free.  ''I  do  not 
love  as  others  love.  I  can  only  think  of  you  and 
your  love.  I  am  neither  hungry  nor  thirsty  but 
only — in  love.  I  am  never  weary,  I  scarcely  know 
that  I  am  working,  for  love  makes  me  sing  and 
sing  all  day.  I  dream  only  of  you.  I  care  not 
what  is  going  on  in  the  whole  world  so  long  as  I 
only  know  what  is  happening  to  you.  I  know  that 
you  love  me  and  that  you  are  mine  so  long  as  you 
are  here.  But  how  often  you  are  far  away !  How 
often  I  do  not  see  you  for  weeks,  for  months  at  a 
time !  Then  I  get  nearly  mad.  I  am  determined 
to  find  out  where  you  arc  and  what  you  are  do- 


THE  CAVERN  OF  LUCSIA  139 

ing,  with  whom  you  are  speaking  and  then  I  say, 
I  feel  quite  mad." 

"Indeed !  Then  let  me  tell  you,  my  dear  girl, 
that  it  would  do  you  no  good  to  know  where  I 
am,  for  I  am  much  more  exposed  to  the  fire  of 
pointed  rifles  than  to  the  fire  of  pretty  eyes." 

"Are  you  then  a  robber  chieftain,  a  mountain 
smuggler?" 

"I  am  a  lot  of  things." 

"Then  take  me  with  you  into  your  band" — she 
spoke  with  heaving  bosom. 

But  Fatia  Negra  stamped  his  foot. 

"It  cannot  be,  Anicza,"  said  he;  "think  no  more 
of  it!    I  will  never  take  you  with  me." 

"Why  not?"  asked  the  girl  and  her  eyes  flashed 
like  a  wild  cat'i 

"Because  then  I  should  become  jealous  of  you 
and  that  would  be  bad  for  us  both.  Remain  in 
your  father's  house;  there  you  are  safe." 

The  girl  drew  from  her  bosom  the  defaced 
ducat  she  had  just  received  together  with  the 
crucifix. 

"Hearken,  Fatia  Negra !  my  father  says  that 
this  badly  coined  piece  of  gold  places  your  life  in 
my  hand.  And  know,  besides,  Fatia  Negra,  that 
I  have  sworn  on  this  Crucified  One  here  that  if 
ever  you  betray  me  I  will  kill  you  in  my  fury  with- 
out thinking  twice  about  the  how  or  where.  It  is 
not  well  that  two  such  dangerous  objects  should 
repose  on  my  heart.  Look!  I  give  them  both  to 
you." 


I40  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

"Wherefore,  Anicza?" 

"Take  the  things,  I  say,  and  keep  them,  for  my 
guardian  angel  knows,  I  have  told  him,  that  with 
me  they  are  not  in  a  safe  place.  You  do  not  know 
me  yet." 

The  girl  burst  out  crying,  and  Fatia  Negra 
could  no  longer  soothe  her  with  kisses,  and  then 
old  Onucz  poked  his  gray  shaggy  head  through 
the  doorway  and  said :  "  I  have  been  paid  already, 
Domnule,  have  you?" 

Fatia  Negra  stroked  the  girl's  hair  and  face 
and  whispered  her  not  to  take  on  so. 

The  stitches  of  the  old  Roumanian's  patience 
now,  at  last,  gave  way  altogether.  "Domnule," 
said  he,  "would  you  not,  if  I  earnestly  besought 
you  to  do  so,  begin  to  think  of  the  day  on  which 
you  intend  to  become  my  daughter's  husband?" 

For  a  moment  Fatia  Negra  seemed  thunder- 
struck ;  then  he  recovered  himself  and  replied  in  a 
calm  but  menacing  voice:  "If  ever  it  occurs  to 
you  to  put  the  question  to  me  again,  your  head  will 
reach  home  an  hour  earlier  than  yourself." 

The  old  man  made  no  reply,  but  he  seized  the 
girl  by  the  hand  and  led  her  away  with  him,  re- 
turning to  the  mill  with  her  by  the  same  way  that 
he  had  come.  They  found  their  horses  by  the  alder 
trees  and  remounted.  It  was  a  fine  clear  night,  and 
Onucz  told  his  daughter  to  ride  in  front.  They 
had  now  divided  the  coined  gold  into  two  por- 
tions. When  they  had  once  more  reached  the 
ridge  of  the  mountain  the  old  man  pronounced 


THE  CAVERN  OF  LUCSIA  141 

Anicza's  name  in  a  low  tone.  The  girl  looked 
backwards  and  perceived  that  the  old  man's  long- 
barrelled  rifle  was  pointed  directly  at  the  back  of 
her  head.  In  her  terror  she  covered  her  face  with 
her  hands.   "What  would  you  do?"  cried  she. 

"Fear  nothing,  I  only  want  that  piece  of  gold 
which  Fatia  Negra  gave  you.  Fll  not  stake  my 
head  on  your  whimsies !" 

The  girl  had  anticipated  something  much  worse 
than  this,  so  she  quietly  answered :  "You  can  spare 
yourself  the  trouble,  I  have  already  returned  it  to 
Fatia  Negra.  I  would  not  carry  it  about  with  me 
any  longer." 

"You  have  acted  wisely,"  said  the  old  man,  low- 
ering his  musket.   "Now  you  can  ride  on." 

The  early  dawn  was  breaking  as  they  reached 
home.  When  Anicza  entered  her  room  she  found 
hanging  up  beneath  the  ikon  that  gleamed  and 
shone  over  her  bed  both  the  damaged  ducat  and 
the  little  cross  which  she  had  given  to  Fatia  Negra 
two  hours  before.  He  must  indeed  be  in  league 
with  the  devil — else  how  could  he  have  got  there, 
invisibly,  so  long  before  them  ? 

Anicza  said  not  a  word  about  it  to  anybody,  but 
she  hid  both  the  amulets  safely  away  in  her  bosom 
again — and  now  she  was  right  proud  of  her  Fatia 
Negra ! 


CHAPTER  VIII 

STRONG  JUON 

Henrietta's  married  life  was  not  a  happy  one. 
Her  husband  was  polite,  complaisant,  and  conven- 
tionally correct  in  his  behaviour  towards  her,  and 
that  was  all.  And  then  she  saw  so  little  of  him. 
He  was  frequently  absent  from  Hidvár  for  weeks 
at  a  time,  and  when  he  returned  he  regularly 
brought  in  his  train  a  merry  company  of  com- 
rades, in  whose  pastimes  Henrietta  could  take  no 
sort  of  pleasure. 

During  those  long  days  when  she  had  Hidvár 
all  to  herself  and  was  left  entirely  to  the  company 
of  her  sad  thoughts,  she  would  sometimes  walk 
about  till  late  in  the  evening  in  the  shady  alleys  of 
the  home  park,  listening  to  the  songs  of  the  girls 
working  in  the  fields.  At  the  end  of  the  park  was 
a  church,  and  in  front  of  it  a  small  clearing  fenced 
around  with  stakes  and  looking  like  a  cabbage  gar- 
den. It  surely  belonged  to  some  poor  man  or 
other.  It  did — and  the  poor  man  was  the  parish- 
priest. 

Henrietta  often  saw  him,  a  tall,  grey-bearded 
man  in  a  long  black  cassock,  hastening  to  his  little 
garden;  there  the  reverend  gentleman  would  di- 
vest himself  of  his  long  habit,  produce  a  rake,  and 
work  till  late  in  the  evening.  Henrietta  fancied  at 
142 


STRONG  JUON  143 

first  that  was  merely  a  dietetic  diversion,  but 
afterwards,  when  she  found  him  there  the  next 
day  and  the  day  after  that,  and  at  every  hour  of 
the  day ;  when  she  saw  him  wiping  the  sweat  from 
his  brow  in  the  burning  afternoons  and  leaning 
wearily  at  intervals  on  his  rake  to  rest  a  while 
from  his  labour,  then  she  was  persuaded  that  this 
work  was  not  a  pastime,  but  a  bitter  toil  for  daily 
bread. 

Often  times  she  would  very  much  have  liked  to 
ask  him  how  this  was,  but  she  was  a  stranger  in 
these  parts  and  did  not  understand  his  language; 
at  last,  however,  the  priest,  perceiving  the  lady 
one  day,  peered  at  her  through  the  palings  and 
wished  her  good-day  in  the  purest  Hungarian, 
thereby  giving  her  to  understand  that  the  lan- 
guage of  the  gentry  was  well  known  to  him, 

Henrietta  begged  the  old  man  to  leave  his  la- 
bour and  come  to  her. 

"It  cannot  be,  3'Our  ladyship;  his  lordship  has 
forbidden  me  to  appear  in  his  courts." 

"Why?" 

"I  am  always  a  nuisance." 

"How  so?" 

"Because  I  am  always  on  some  begging  errand. 
At  one  time  the  wind  carries  off  the  roof  of  the 
church ;  at  another,  something  is  broken  in  the  bel- 
fry. It  is  a  year  ago  now  since  the  school  was 
burnt  down,  and  since  then  the  walls  have  become 
overgrown  with  thistles ;  the  schoolmaster  too  has 
gone  away,  and  there  is  nobody  to  teach  the  chil- 


144  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

dren,  so  that  they  grow  up  louts  and  robbers,  to 
the  great  hurt  and  harm  of  the  gentry." 

"But  why  is  not  all  this  put  to  rights  ?" 

''Because  the  poor  folks  are  lazy  and  drunken, 
and  his  lordship  is  stingy." 

Henrietta  was  astonished  at  the  old  man's 
words. 

"Yes,  stingy,  that's  the  word,"  continued  the 
priest.  "I  do  not  pick  my  words,  for  I  am  a  priest 
and  used  to  hunger.  And  he  who  is  used  to  hun- 
ger is  free  from  the  yoke  of  servility.  I  told  his 
lordship  that  to  his  face,  and  that  was  why  he  for- 
bade me  the  castle." 

Henrietta  could  not  continue  the  conversation, 
so  upset  was  she  at  the  idea  of  Hátszegi's  stingi- 
ness. What!  the  man  who  raked  in  hundreds  of 
thousands  at  a  time  with  the  greatest  ease,  and  no 
doubt  scattered  them  as  recklessly,  could  shut  his 
door  in  the  face  of  a  poor  priest  who  begged  for 
the  house  of  God  and  the  education  of  the  people ! 
She  hastily  wished  the  priest  good-night  and  re- 
turned to  the  castle. 

The  same  evening  she  sought  her  husband,  who 
had  just  come  home  wearied  from  the  chase,  "I 
have  a  favour  to  ask  of  you,"  said  she.  Hátszegi 
looked  astonished :  it  was  the  first  favour  the  wife 
had  ever  asked  her  husband. 

"Command  me !"  said  he.  "Whatever  you  like 
to  ask  is  as  good  as  granted  already." 

"I  should  like  to  learn  the  language  of  the  peo- 


STRONG  JUON  145 

pie  in  the  midst  of  whom  we  dwell.  I  am  like  a 
deaf-mute  among  them  at  present." 

"That  will  not  be  difficult.  The  Wallachian 
tongue  is  easily  acquired,  especially  by  anyone 
with  a  knowledge  of  French  or  Latin." 

Henrietta  blushed  scarlet.  Was  there  a  covert 
allusion  behind  these  words  ?  Did  Hátszegi  know 
that  she  understood  Latin  ? 

"I  should  like  to  have  a  master  who  can  put  me 
in  the  way  of  it.  The  parish  priest  here  would  be  a 
suitable  person." 

For  an  instant  Hátszegi's  eyebrows  contracted. 

"You  shall  have  your  way,"  he  said  at  last.  "It 
is  true  that  he  is  the  one  man  in  the  world  who 
insults  me  to  my  face  with  impunity  whenever  he 
meets  me,  and  even  presumes  to  chalk  upon  the 
walls  of  my  own  castle  denunciations  against  me 
from  the  book  of  the  Prophet  Nehemiah,  so  that 
I  was  obliged  to  forbid  him  ever  to  appear  before 
me  under  pain  of  being  thrown  headlong  out  of 
the  window;  yet  to  show  you  what  an  obedient 
servant  I  am  of  yours,  madame,  I  will  not  baulk 
you  of  your  desire,  or  desire  you  to  choose  an- 
other master,  but  will  send  and  invite  him  to  come 
up  here  at  once.  Everyone  shall  see  that  in  my 
house,  my  wife  is  the  master."  And  with  that 
Leonard  kissed  his  wife's  hand  and  withdrew. 

Early  next  day  the  pastor  arrived.  Margari  in- 
formed him  of  her  ladyship's  desire  to  learn  the 
Roumanian  language,  and  the  words  almost  stuck 
in  his  throat  when  he  added  that  his  Reverence 


146  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

would  receive  a  hundred  florins  every  month  for 
it.  Fancy !  a  hundred  florins  a  month  for  teaching 
a  Hngo  only  spoken  by  bumpkins. 

Todor  Rubán — that  was  the  priest's  name — 
was  at  once  conducted  to  her  ladyship.  He  was 
an  elderly  man,  of  an  open,  cheerful  countenance ; 
his  fine,  long  white  hair  fell  in  thick  locks  on  his 
simple  black  cassock,  which  showed  considerable 
signs  of  wear. 

Henrietta  was  not  in  time  to  prevent  the  old 
pastor  from  kissing  her  hand. 

"  This  is  no  slavish  obsequiousness  towards  a 
great  lady,"  said  he,  "but  the  respect  of  a  poor 
pastor  for  an  angel  whom  Heaven  by  a  peculiar 
act  of  grace  has  sent  down  to  us.  This  is  no  empty 
compliment,  your  ladyship.  I  am  not  very  lavish 
of  such  things  myself,  but  I  feel  bound  to  address 
you  thus  because  I  am  well  aware  that  it  is  not 
merely  to  learn  our  poor  language  that  you  pay 
me  so  well  for  so  little  trouble.  No,  I  recognize 
herein  the  good  will  which  would  do  what  it  can 
to  raise  and  help  a  poor  neglected  population :  for 
I  certainly  shall  not  exchange  my  simple  maize- 
bread  for  better,  but  will  employ  your  ladyship's 
gift  in  the  service  of  God  and  of  our  poorer 
brethren. 

From  that  day  Henrietta  believed  that  a  call 
from  on  high  had  summoned  her  to  Hidvár  to  be 
the  guardian  angel,  the  visible  providence  of  a 
poor,  forsaken  people,  and  her  most  pleasant  oc- 
cupation was  now  to  go  from  village  to  village, — 


STRONG  JUON  147 

often  in  the  company  of  the  priest,  and  at  other 
times  accompanied  by  a  single  groom  or  quite 
alone.  Thus  she  visited  one  after  the  other  all  the 
surrounding  parishes  like  any  archdeacon,  enquir- 
ing after  and  helping  their  necessities,  distribut- 
ing money  for  school-buildings  and  service  books, 
collecting  all  manner  of  stra}'^  orphans  and  bring- 
ing them  home  with  her  to  be  fed  and  instructed ; 
nay  she  erected  a  regular  foundling  hospital  at 
Hidvár  for  the  benefit  of  the  sprouting  urchins  of 
the  district,  and  had  the  liveliest  debates  with  the 
priest  as  to  the  best  method  of  managing  it.  Her 
benevolent  enthusiasm  cost  Hátszegi  a  pretty 
penny. 

"She  is  a  child;  let  her  play !"  he  would  only  say 
when  Margari  and  Clementina  represented  to  him 
that  Henrietta  had  pawned  her  jewels  at  Fehérvár 
in  order  to  teach  some  more  little  Roumanian  rag- 
a-mufhns  how  to  go  about  with  gloves  on  like 
their  betters.  Nay  the  baron  secretly  instructed 
the  tradesmen  with  whom  Henrietta  had  pawned 
her  jewels  to  advance  her  four  times  as  much  as 
they  were  worth,  he  would  make  it  good  again,  he 
said — and  then  he  would  buy  his  wife  fresh  jew- 
els.   An  admirable  husband,  truly ! 

One  day,  Henrietta  had  ridden  out  to  the  neigh- 
bouring Ravacsel  in  order  to  visit  a  poor  Walla- 
chian  peasant  woman,  to  whom  she  had  sent  some 
medicine  a  few  days  before.  The  woman,  natur- 
ally, never  drank  the  medicine,  but  instead  of  that 
got  a  village  quack  to  rub  her  stomach  with  some 


148  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

wonder-working  salve  so  vigorously  that  the  poor 
patient  died  in  consequence;  in  fact  she  was  al- 
ready at  the  last  gasp  when  Henrietta  arrived. 
Henrietta  was  beside  herself  with  grief  and  anger. 
She  felt  like  a  doctor  whose  prescriptions  have 
been  interfered  with  by  a  competitor.  She  could 
not  indeed  help  the  woman,  who  expired  soon 
after  her  arrival,  but  she  had  at  least  the  satisfac- 
tion of  making  arrangements  for  a  decent  funeral. 
In  the  meantime  it  had  grown  so  late  that  when 
she  turned  back  toward  Hidvár  the  moon  was  al- 
ready pretty  high  in  the  heavens. 

She  was  alone  on  horseback,  for  it  was  only  a 
two  hours'  journey  between  the  two  places,  and 
she  had  therefore  not  thought  it  worth  while  to 
bring  an  escort  with  her.  Besides,  whom  had  she 
to  fear  ?  Since  she  had  lived  in  these  parts,  all  the 
bad  men  had  disappeared,  and  whoever  she  might 
meet  in  the  roads  or  lanes  would  be  ready  to  kiss 
her  hand. 

So  she  turned  homewards  again  alone.  The  road 
wound  in  and  out  among  the  valleys  and  was 
therefore  much  longer  than  if  it  had  gone  in  a 
straight  direction  across  the  mountains.  She  had, 
however,  often  heard  from  the  peasants  that  there 
was  a  shorter  way  to  Hidvár  from  Ravacsel  on 
which  mules  and  ponies  could  go,  and  she  thought 
it  better  to  look  for  this  road  lest  night  should 
surprise  her  among  the  mountains.  But  a  road 
that  is  good  enough  for  mules  and  ponies  may  not 
suit  a  thoroughbred  English  steed  which  does  not 


STRONG  JUON  14.9 

care  about  putting  its  hoofs  into  the  tracks  of 
other  beasts ;  and  besides,  a  hundred  paces  on  level 
ground  is  much  shorter  than  twenty-five  up 
hill.  Henrietta  vividly  experienced  the  truth  of 
this  when  she  reached  the  summit  of  the  hill,  for 
her  horse  was  sweating  from  every  pore  and  trem- 
bling from  the  violent  exertion.  Such  horses 
should  not  be  used  in  hilly  country:  a  shaggy, 
sturdy  little  pony  would  have  treated  the  whole 
thing  as  a  joke  and  not  said  a  word  about  it. 

But  the  real  difficulties  of  the  road  only  began 
during  the  descent,  which  was  equally  dangerous 
for  horse  and  rider.  The  track,  a  mere  channel 
washed  out  of  the  soft  sandstone  by  the  mountain 
torrents,  descended  abruptly,  the  stones  giving 
way  beneath  the  horse's  hoofs  and  plunging  after 
it.  Frequently  they  had  to  cross  very  awkward 
places,  and  Henrietta  could  see  from  the  way  in 
which  her  horse  pricked  up  his  ears,  snorted  and 
shook  his  head,  that  he  was  as  frightened  as  his 
mistress. 

At  last  they  came  to  a  very  bad  spot  indeed, 
where  on  one  side  of  the  road  there  was  a  sheer 
abyss,  while  the  rocky  mountain  side  rose  perpen- 
dicularly on  the  other.  The  narrow  path  here  ran 
so  close  to  the  rock  that  the  rider  had  to  bend  her 
head  aside  so  as  not  to  knock  it,  and  the  horse 
could  only  go  forward  one  foot  at  a  time. 

For  an  instant  the  horse  stood  still,  as  if  weigh- 
ing his  chances  on  that  narrow  path :  but,  as  there 


I50  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

was  no  turning  back  now,  he  was  obliged  at  last  to 
go  on. 

Henrietta  looked  shudderingly  down  into  the 
chasm  below  her,  over  which  she  seemed  to  hang 
suspended ;  and  she  thought  to  herself,  with  some- 
thing very  like  a  sob :  what  if  we  should  stumble 
now! 

The  thought  was  scarcely  in  her  mind  when  one 
of  the  horse's  hind  legs  tripped,  and  the  same  in- 
stant horse  and  rider  were  precipitated  into  the 
abyss. 

Henrietta  never  lost  her  head  during  the  fall. 
She  noticed  everything  that  happened  during  the 
brief  plunge,  how  the  horse  struggling  desper- 
ately clattered  down  the  mountain-side,  how  the 
saddle  girth  burst  beneath  the  strain,  how  for  a 
mere  second  some  bush  or  shrub  arrested  the  de- 
scent, and  how  the  next  instant  the  weight  of  the 
horse  tore  it  down  along  with  him.  Finally,  fall- 
ing still  lower  and  turning  right  round  on  its  back 
the  horse  got  wedged  in  between  two  rocks  from 
which  position  he  was  fortunately  unable  to  disen- 
gage himself,  for  had  he  fallen  any  further  he 
would  have  been  dashed  to  pieces. 

Henrietta  was  quite  conscious  the  whole  time. 
Holding  on  with  both  hands  to  the  roots  of  a  bush 
with  her  left  leg  still  in  the  stirrup  (for  saddle  and 
stirrup  also  remained  hanging  in  the  bush)  it  oc- 
curred to  her  in  this  painful  situation  that  she  still 
had  time  to  commend  her  soul  to  God  and  then 
face  death  more  calmly.   As  to  help,  there  was  no 


STRONG  JUON  151 

hope  of  it,  for  the  place  was  far  away  from  all  hu- 
man dwellings;  night  would  soon  fall  and  the 
bush  would  presently  yield  beneath  her  feet — de- 
struction was  certain. 

But  while  the  lady  neglected  to  call  for  assist- 
ance, the  wedged-in  horse  did  so  all  the  more 
loudly.  Supine  and  unable  to  free  himself  from 
his  uncomfortable  position,  he  repeatedly  uttered 
that  terrified  scream  which  one  never  hears  from 
this  noble  and  reticent  beast  except  in  dire  extrem- 
ity. Whoever  has  heard  such  a  cry  will  readily 
admit  that  it  is  far  more  terrible  than  any  merely 
human  appeal  for  assistance. 

After  a  few  moments  it  seemed  to  Henrietta  as 
if  a  halloo  were  resounding  from  the  depths  be- 
low ;  looking  down  she  perceived  by  the  light  of 
the  moon  a  black  shape  leaping  from  rock  to  rock 
like  a  chamois,  and  gradually  approaching  the 
dangerous  point  where  she  hung. 

Any  efforts  on  this  man's  part  seemed  to  her 
impossible.  There  was  not  a  single  visible  gap 
or  crevice  in  the  face  of  the  steep  rock  by  means  of 
v/hich  he  could  scramble  up  to  her;  and  how 
could  he  help  her,  how  could  he  liberate  her,  if  he 
did  manage  to  get  at  her? 

Nevertheless  the  man  drew  nearer  and  nearer. 
She  could  by  this  time  make  out  his  goatskin 
cloak,  his  high  broad  cap,  the  clean  shaved  face 
peculiar  to  the  mountain  goatherds.  His  dex- 
terity was  as  astonishing  as  the  physical  strength, 
with  which  he  often  raised  himself  on  the  tips  of 
his  toes  in  order  to  reach  a  cleft  in  the  rocks, 


152  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

scarcely  visible  high  above  his  head;  often  he 
could  scarce  hold  on  by  the  tips  of  his  fingers,  yet 
the  next  moment  he  would  swing  himself  up  with 
half  a  hand  and,  setting  his  foot  in  the  cleft,  look 
about  for  a  fresh  foothold. 

About  a  yard  below  Henrietta  was  a  projecting 
piece  of  rock  just  large  enough  for  a  man's  foot 
to  stand  upon.  The  next  moment  Henrietta  saw 
the  herdsman  mount  to  this  place.  He  himself 
was  a  good  fathom  in  height  and  his  head  reached 
up  as  far  as  Henrietta's  hips.  He  looked  up  at 
her  with  a  friendly  smile,  as  if  he  had  merely 
come  there  to  help  her  down  from  her  horse. 
Then  he  said  to  her  in  Roumanian :  "Noroc  hun 
Domnar  which  means  "Good  luck  to  you,  my 
lady!"  So  even  in  this  perilous  situation  it  oc- 
curred to  him  to  say  something  pleasant. 

"The  horse  took  a  false  step,  my  lady,"  said  he, 
"but  all's  well  that  ends  well.  Prithee,  mount 
upon  my  shoulder,  this  bush  will  not  hold  fast 
much  longer,  it  is  only  a  juniper,  its  roots  are 
Aveak."  Henrietta's  heart  failed  her.  This  man 
surely  does  not  imagine  that  he  will  be  able  to 
carry  her  down  on  his  shoulders. 

"Come,  my  lady,  don't  be  afraid,  I  can  easily 
carry  you  down.  Why  I  often  roam  about  like 
this  after  my  kids  when  they  fall  into  the  preci- 
pice; and  you  are  no  heavier  than  a  young  kid, 
I'm  sure." 

And  then,  with  the  hand  that  remained  free,  he 
plucked  at  the  remainder  of  the  damaged  bush. 


STRONG  JUON  153 

Henrietta  perceived  with  astonishment  that  the 
roots  which  had  not  snapped  asunder  beneath  his 
weight  were  loosened  from  the  rock  by  the  mere 
tug  of  the  man's  hand.  But  what  was  he  going  to 
do  with  them? 

The  herdsman  bade  the  lady  fear  nothing;  no 
further  accident  could  happen,  he  said ;  then,  stick- 
ing the  torn  out  stump  between  his  legs  like  a  hob- 
by-horse and  pressing  it  against  the  rock  with  one 
hand,  he  himself  turned  his  back  to  the  mountain- 
side and  suddenly,  stretching  his  legs  wide  apart, 
let  himself  glide  down  the  shelving  rock. 

Henrietta  shrieked  aloud,  she  thought  she  was 
lost,  but  the  next  moment  the  herdsman  stood  on 
solid  ground  and  looked  up  at  her  with  a  smile: 
"We're  all  right,  you  see,"  he  cried.  "Oh,  I  have 
travelled  like  this  many  a  time;  it  is  rare  fun, — 
sledging  I  call  it.'' 

Sledging  indeed ! — to  plunge  down  a  steep 
mountain  side  five  fathoms  deep  with  the  aid  of  a 
juniper  bush ! 

From  where  they  now  stood  it  was  an  easy  mat- 
ter to  convey  the  lady  to  the  bottom  of  the  preci- 
pice, which  was  overgrown  with  bright  grass,  on 
which  he  deposited  her. 

"There  you  are.  my  lady,"  said  he.  "Don't  be 
frightened;  I  will  soon  be  back  again." 

And  with  that  he  scrambled  up  again  towards 
the  wedged-in  horse.  Henrietta  gazed  after  him 
in  amazement — whatever  was  he  going  to  do 
there  ? 


154  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

The  fellow,  on  reaching  the  wriggling  horse, 
first  of  all  caught  firm  hold  of  its  front  legs  and 
then  tied  all  four  legs  tightly  together  with  the 
stirrup-straps.  Thereupon,  he  seized  the  beast  by 
his  fettered  legs,  pulled  them  over  his  shoulders, 
and  with  a  violent  jerk  freed  the  animal  from  its 
uncomfortable  position  and  carried  it  down  into 
the  valley  likewise.  There  he  untied  its  legs, 
helped  it  on  to  its  hoofs  again,  and,  turning  with  a 
smile  to  Henrietta,  said;  "A  fine  horse  that;  it 
would  have  been  a  shame  to  have  let  it  come  to 
grief!" 

"And  you  were  able  to  carry  it  on  your  shoul- 
ders ?"  gasped  Henrietta, 

'"That  isn't  very  much.  It  scarce  weighs  more 
than  four  hundredweight.  The  bear  not  long  ago 
weighed  five,  and  I  had  to  beat  it  to  death  before  I 
could  take  it  home.  Surely  your  ladyship  knows 
that  I  am  the  strong  Juon — Juon  Tare?"  And  the 
goatherd  said  this  with  as  much  self-evident 
pride,  as  if  everyone  in  the  wide  world  had  heard 
that  strong  Juon  dwelt  among  these  forests.  Hen- 
rietta's look  of  surprise  apprised  him,  however, 
that  she,  at  least,  had  never  heard  of  him. 

"You  do  not  know  then,  Domna,  who  I  am? 
Yet  I  know  who  you  are.  I  have  often  met  the 
Dumnye  Barbatii'^  and  he  knows  me  well.  He  is 
the  only  man  in  the  world  who  is  as  strong  as  I 
am.  We  have  often  wrestled  together  on  this 
grass-plot  for  a  wager.  Neither  of  us  has  ever  been 

*My  lord,  your  husband. 


STRONG  JUON  155 

able  to  throw  the  other.  His  lordship  can  throw 
an  axe  deeper  into  a  tree  than  I  can,  but  I  can  put 
a  greater  weight.  His  lordship  can  kill  an  ox  with 
a  blow  from  his  fist,  but  I  can  throttle  a  bear  to 
death.  But  we  cannot  overcome  each  other, 
though  we  have  often  stood  up  together — only  in 
joke,  only  in  sport,  of  course,  your  ladyship.  It 
would  not  be  well  if  we  encountered  each  other  in 
our  wrath — that  would  be  terrible." 

All  the  time  he  spoke  Juon  was  skilfully  mend- 
ing the  torn  saddle-girths  and  the  bridle ;  then  he 
re-saddled  the  horse,  which  was  still  trembling  in 
every  limb,  wiped  the  bloody  foam  from  its 
mouth,  washed  its  sores  and  encouraged  the  lady 
to  remount.  In  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  he  said,  they 
would  meet  the  road  again,  and  in  half  an  hour 
they  would  be  at  Hidvár. 

Then  the  goatherd,  who  was  well  acquainted 
with  all  the  meander ings  of  the  valley,  took  the 
horse's  rein  and  conducted  the  lady  to  the  moun- 
tain pass,  where  the  beaten  track  began  again. 
There  he  kissed  her  hand  and  parted  from  her. 

*T  must  now  go  back,"  said  he,  "for  they  are 
waiting  for  me." 

"Who?" 

"My  goats  and  my  wife." 

"Then  you  have  a  wife?  Do  you  love  her?'' 

"Love  her?"  cried  the  herdsman  proudly, — and 
then  he  added  in  a  lower  voice :  "She  is  as  beauti- 
ful as  your  ladyship! — Buna  noptc,  Doinna!"* 

*  Good  night,  my  lady. 


156  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

And  without  waiting  for  an  answer,  he  plunged 
back  into  the  forest,  disappearing  by  leaps  and 
bounds. 

When  Henrietta  got  home  she  said  not  a  word 
to  anyone  about  what  had  taken  place,  though  the 
condition  of  the  horse  and  his  harness  sufficed  to 
show  that  an  accident  had  happened.  But  she 
could  scarce  wait  for  the  morrow  to  come,  bring- 
ing along  with  it  Todor  Rubán,  from  whom  she 
meant  to  find  out  everything  relating  to  Juon 
Tare.* 


•  From  the  Roamanias  Taria^  strength,  solidity. 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE  GEINA  MAID-MARKET 

''Would  your  ladyship  believe," —  so  Todor* 
Rubán  began  his  story  of  Juon  the  strong, — 
"sitting  here  as  you  do  by  the  fireside,  accustomed 
from  your  birth  to  every  elegant  luxury,  with  a 
particular  servant  always  ready  to  fly  obediently 
to  accomplish  each  separate  command,  and  with 
different  glasses  and  porcelain  for  each  several 
course  at  meals — would  your  ladyship  believe,  I 
ask,  that  there  are  people  in  this  world  who  know 
not  what  it  is  to  have  a  roof  above  their  heads 
when  they  go  to  sleep,  who  would  not  recognize  a 
bed  or  a  dinner  service  if  they  saw  them,  nay,  who 
often  are  in  want  of  bread — and  yet,  for  all  that, 
are  happy  ? 

"And  yet  such  people  live  quite  close  to  us.  We 
need  not  think  of  the  savage  inhabitants  of 
Oceania, — we  can  see  enough  of  them  and  to  spare 
in  this  very  place.  Your  ladyship  can  hear  from 
your  balcony  the  melancholy  songs  of  their  pas- 
toral flutes,  especially  of  an  evening,  when  the 
milch-goats  are  returning  from  the  deep  valleys. 

"The  herdsman  here  never  sleeps  beneath  a  roof 
either  summer  or  winter;  every  spring  he  counts 
the  goats  of  his  master's  herds  and  the  half  of 

•  Theodore. 

157 


158  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

every  increase  belongs  to  him;  nobody  enquires 
how  he  Hves  there  among  his  herds  in  the  lofty 
mountain-passes,  how  he  defends  himself  against 
hurricanes  and  snow-storms,  yes,  and  against  the 
wild  beasts  of  the  forest,  the  bears  and  wolves — 
nobody  troubles  his  head  about  all  that. 

"Such  a  goatherd  is  that  same  Juon  whom  your 
ladyship  has  learnt  to  know.  Perhaps  we  shall 
hear  something  more  about  him  some  other  time, 
for  his  life  has  been  very  romantic;  now,  however, 
I  will  only  tell  you  of  a  single  episode  therein : 

"There  once  lived  near  here  in  the  district  of 
Vlaskutza,  a  rich  pakular^  who  had  scraped  to- 
gether a  lot  of  gold  out  of  a  mining  venture  at 
Verespatak,  and  therefore  went  by  the  name  of 
wealthy  Misule. 

"He  had  an  only  daughter,  Mariora  by  name, — • 
and  has  your  ladyship  any  idea  of  what  Rouma- 
nian beauties  are?  A  sculptor  could  not  devise  a 
nobler  model.  So  beautiful  was  she  that  her  fame 
had  spread  through  the  Hungarian  plain  as  far  as 
Arad,  and  whenever  great  folks  from  foreign 
lands  came  to  see  Gyenstar  and  Brivadia  they 
would  make  a  long  circuit  and  come  to  Vlaskucza 
in  order  to  rest  at  the  house  of  old  Misule,  where 
the  finest  prospect  of  all  was  a  look  into  the  eyes 
of  Mariora. 

"This  wonderously  beautiful  maiden  loved  the 
poor  goatherd  Juon,  who  possessed  nothing  in  the 
world  but  his  sheepskin  pelisse  and  his  alpen- 

•Roguish  speculator. 


THE  GEINA  MAID-MARKET        159 

stock ;  him  she  loved  and  him  alone.  Wealthy  old 
Misule  would  naturally  have  nothing  to  say  to 
such  a  match ;  he  had  in  his  eye  an  influential 
friend  of  his,  a  gentleman  and  village  elder  in  the 
county  of  Fehérvár,  one  Gligor  Tobicza, — to  him 
he  meant  to  give  his  daughter.  Reports  were 
spread  that  Juon  was  a  wizard.  It  was  Misule's 
wife  who  fastened  this  suspicion  upon  him,  be- 
cause he  had  succeeded  in  bewitching  her  daugh- 
ter. She  said  among  other  things,  that  he  under- 
stood the  language  of  the  brute  beasts,  that  he  had 
often  been  seen  speaking  with  wolves  and  bears, 
and  that  when  he  spread  out  his  shaggy  sheep- 
skin, he  sat  down  at  one  end  of  it  and  a  bear  at 
the  other.  There  was  this  much  of  truth  in  the 
tale,  that  once  when  he  was  tending  his  flocks 
Juon  heard  a  painful  groaning  in  the  hollow  of  a 
rock,  and,  venturing  in,  perceived  lying  in  one 
corner  a  she-bear  who,  mortally  injured  in  some 
distant  hunt,  had  contrived  to  drag  its  lacerated 
body  hither  to  die.  Beside  the  old  she-bear  lay  a 
little  suckling  cub.  The  mother  dying  before  his 
very  eyes,  Juon  had  compassion  on  the  desolate 
cub,  took  it  under  his  protection,  and  carried  it  to 
a  milch-goat,  who  suckled  it.  The  little  wild  beast 
thrived  upon  the  milk  of  the  tame  animal  and, 
softened  by  human  fellowship,  grew  up  much  at- 
tached to  its  master.  Bears,  I  may  tell  your  lady- 
ship, are  not  bloodthirsty  by  nature.  Henceforth 
the  bear  went  forth  with  the  herdsman  and  the 
herds,  helped  to  drive  the  goats  together  of  an 


l6o  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

evening,  and  enlivened  the  long  dreary  days  by 
turning  somersaults — an  art  at  which  bears  ex- 
cel. At  night  it  slept  by  Juon's  side  and  made 
itself  cosey  by  burying  its  snout  in  his  bosom. 
When  meal-time  came,  the  bear  sat  down  beside 
Juon,  for  he  knew  that  every  second  slice  of  cheese 
would  be  his.  He  also  fetched  fire-wood  to  put 
under  the  pot  in  which  the  maize-pottage  was  boil- 
ing. Then,  too,  he  explored  the  woods  in  search  of 
wild  honey  and  brought  back  his  booty  to  share  it 
with  Juon.  When  it  was  very  hot  he  carried  his 
pelisse  after  him,  a  pelt  more  or  less  made  very 
little  difference  to  him.  Juon  had  nobody  to  speak 
to  but  the  bear,  and  if  a  man  speaks  quite  seriously 
to  the  beasts  they  get  to  understand  him  at  last. 
Moreover,  in  moments  of  ill  temper  the  bear  had 
learnt  to  recognize  that  Juon's  fists  were  no  less 
vigorous  than  his  own  paws,  so  that  he  had  no 
temptation  to  be  ungrateful. 

"This,  then,  was  the  man  beloved  by  Mariora. 

"In  our  part  of  the  country,  my  lady,  there  is  an 
original  popular  custom,  the  maiden-market. 

"In  the  highlands  of  Bihar  stands  the  rocky 
bluff  of  Geina,  which  grows  green,  like  every 
other  Transylvanian  height,  as  soon  as  it  is 
cleansed  from  snow.  There  I  first  met  Juon, 
many  years  ago.  He  stood  there  on  the  mountain 
summit  the  live-long  day,  blowing  on  his  alpen- 
stock, while  the  bear  was  plucking  strawberries  in 
the  valley  below  and  guarding  the  goats,  not  from 
running  away,  but  from  other  wild  beasts.     The 


THE  GEINA  MAID-MARKET        i6r 

prospect  from  this  spot  is  really  sublime.  In  one 
direction  you  can  see  the  mountain-chain  of  Vul- 
cani,  in  the  other  the  environs  of  Klausenberg  and 
the  Gyalian  Alps.  But  westwards  stretches  the 
great  Hungarian  plain,  whose  misty  expanse  loses 
itself  against  the  horizon. 

''On  a  certain  day  of  the  year  things  are  very 
lively  at  Geina.  In  the  evening  of  the  first  Sunday 
after  St.  John  Baptist's  day  the  ginger-bread- 
bakers  come  thither  from  Rézbánya  and  Topan- 
falu  with  their  horses  dragging  loads  of  honey- 
cakes,  and  barrels  full  of  meal  and  brandy,  and 
pitch  their  tents  in  the  forest-clearing.  On  that 
Sunday  the  highlands  are  full  of  merry  folks,  and 
the  maiden-market  is  held  there. 

"From  near  and  far  repair  thither  the  mothers 
and  their  marriageable  daughters,  all  tricked  out 
with  their  dowries  ready  in  the  shape  of  strings  of 
gold  and  silver  coins  round  their  necks,  with 
bright  variegated  garments  at  their  horses'  sides, 
and  stuffed  pillows  and  painted  pitchers  on  the 
saddles  in  front  of  them.  All  these  things  they 
unpack  and  arrange  in  rows  in  front  of  the  tents, 
just  as  at  an  ordinary  fair :  and  then  the  pur- 
chasers come  along,  jaunty,  connubially-inclined 
young  fellows,  who  inspect  the  dowries,  engage 
the  wenches  in  conversation,  and  chaffer  and  hag- 
gle and  go  away  again  if  they  cannot  come  to 
terms.  Many  of  the  girls  are  kept  back,  others 
are  given  up  to  the  first  bidder,  and  when  once  a 
couple  is  mated  they  are  escorted   to   the  tune  of 


102  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

lively  flutes  and  bagpipes  to  the  first  Kalugye,*  or 
pastor,  who  sanctifies  the  union  according  to  tlie 
religion  of  the  spouses. 

"Your  ladyship  laughs  at  this  custom,  yet  it  is 
capable  of  a  very  natural  explanation.  The  inhabi- 
tants of  these  Alpine  regions  live  necessarily  far 
away  from  one  another — how  else  could  they  tend 
their  herds  ? — even  the  nearest  neighbours  being  a 
good  stiff  half  hour's  walk  apart.  So  the  young 
girls  stay  at  home,  and  the  young  fellows  only  see 
them  once  a  year — at  the  maiden-market  of  Geina. 

"Now,  of  course  such  a  famous  beauty  as  Mari- 
ora  had  no  need  to  go  all  the  wa)^  to  the  Geina  fair 
in  search  of  a  husband,  especially  as  one  had  al- 
ready been  chosen  for  her  who  brought  with  him 
all  the  pride  of  riches.  But  her  father  Misule 
would  not  on  any  account  have  neglected  the  op- 
portunity of  exhibiting  his  daughter,  during  the 
pilgrimage  to  Geina,  as  the  most  lovely  girl  of  the 
district ;  and  his  wife  could  not  have  lived  unless 
she  had  hung  out  Mariora's  gold-embroidered 
shift  in  front  of  the  tent  and  haughtily  sent  at  least 
ten  suitors  about  their  business. 

"Gligor  Tobicza,  coming  all  the  way  from  Rez- 
patak,  appeared  at  the  fair  at  the  same  time,  with 
twelve  high-backed  horses  and  six  Gipsy  mu- 
sicians, ribbons  and  coloured  kerchiefs  fluttering 
from  every  horse  and  every  cap.  The  comrades 
drank  together  and  then  had  a  little  rumpus  also. 
Tobicza  broke  the  heads  of  a  few  of  the  more  up- 

*  Or  rather,  Calugaru,  monk,  not  pastor. 


THE  GEINA  MAID-MARKET        163 

roarious  spirits,  and  then  peace  was  restored 
again,  and  the  general  good  humour  was  higher 
than  ever — only  the  bride  remained  sad. 

"Suddenly  it  occurred  to  Tobicza  that  it  would 
be  nice  to  get  a  kiss  from  Mariora.  But  the  girl  re- 
pulsed him :  'I  am  not  your  wife  yet,'  she  cried. 

"  'Yet  if  Juon  were  to  ask  for  you,  I  suppose 
you  would  not  say  no?' 

"The  girl  honestly  confessed  that  she  would  not. 

"At  this  Tobicza  was  mad  with  rage.  'Let  him 
come  hither  then,  if  he  loves  you,'  cried  he,  'let  him 
tear  you  away  from  me  if  he  be  the  better  man.  I 
will  strike  him  dead  with  this — see!'  And  draw- 
ing a  long  goat-skin  bag  out  of  his  girdle,  the  bot- 
tom of  which  was  choke  full  of  ducats,  and  whirl- 
ing it  round  his  head  like  a  morning-star*  he 
turned  forestwards  and  roared :  'Come  hither,  tat- 
tered Juon,  thou  ragged  dog!  'Tis  now  maiden - 
market  day  if  you  want  to  buy  Mariora  I  Come 
forth  thou  cowardly  hound  and  let  me  beat  you  to 
death !  I'll  fell  you  to  the  earth  with  my  ducats. 
I'll  break  your  head  with  my  gold  money.'  And 
the  whole  crowd  laughed  at  and  loudly  applauded 
these  witticisms. 

"But  just  as  he  was  raging  most  furiously,  a 
great  roaring  suddenly  arose  from  the  direction  of 
the  forest, — whereupon  the  crowd  rushed  away 
from  their  tents  to  their  horses,  overturning  bar- 
rels and  trunks  as  they  went,  the  women  scream- 
ing and  the  men  cursing,   and  all  with  one  voice 

*  A  spiked  club. 


l64  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

exclaiming:  'the  bear  is  coming!'  'J^o^^  i^  com- 
ing with  his  bear !' 

"That  was  enough  for  every  one.  Only  the 
most  determined  sportsmen  care  about  tackhng  a 
bear  in  the  open,  for  even  when  mortally  wounded 
the  beast  is  quite  capable  of  taking  his  revenge. 
In  an  instant  every  soul  rushed  headlong  from  the 
summit  of  Geina  into  the  roads  below,  leaving  be- 
hind bride,  dowry  and  drinking  booth;  so  that 
when  the  bear  and  Juon  leaped  out  of  the  juniper 
bushes  there  was  nobody  left  on  Geina.  Nobody, 
that  is,  but  Mariora,  who  did  not  fly  with  the  fugi- 
tives, but  hid  herself  in  the  tent. 

"Tobicza  had  headed  the  race,  but  as  his  legs 
were  heavy  with  the  mead  he  had  drunk,  he  threw 
away  his  big  bag  of  gold  to  lighten  his  limbs  and 
prevent  Juon  from  overtaking  him.  But  Juon, 
snatching  it  up,  whirled  it  round  like  a  sling  and 
threw  it  with  all  his  might  after  his  rival,  exclaim- 
ing :  'There's  your  money,  big-  voice !  take  it  and 
buy  a  wife  with  it.  You  are  nothing  at  all  without 
it.  But  I  am  still  Juon,  though  I  have  only  an  axe 
in  my  hands.' 

"Then  he  went  up  to  Mariora,  kissed  and  em- 
braced her,  and  asked  her  if  she  would  be  his  bride 
and  go  away  and  live  with  him  in  the  forest.  And 
when  she  said:  'Yes,'  he  kissed  her  again  and 
took  her  with  him  into  the  free  forest  without  once 
looking  back  at  the  dowry  lying  abandoned  there 
with  all  its  gold  and  glitter.  In  his  eyes  only 
Mariora  was  of  gold,  nothing  else. 


THE  GEINA  MAID-MARKET        165 

"The  bear  meanwhile  made  some  Httle  havoc  in 
a  mild  sort  of  way,  among  the  honey-cakes,  but  he 
did  no  other  damage. 

"And  I  can  assure  your  ladyship  that  this  wife 
who  has  nothing  in  the  world  but  her  husband, 
but  that  husband  all  her  own — is  even  now  very 
happy." 


CHAPTER  X 

THE  BLACK  JEWELRY 

It  was  during  this  time  that  Henrietta  cher- 
ished the  bizarre  illusion  that  it  was  her  vocation 
to  cultivate  the  acquaintance  of  the  honest  but 
homely  peasantry  living  around,  in  whose  lowly 
circles  a  widowed  protestant  pastor's  wife  and  a 
worn-out  old  miner  were  the  principal  personages. 
Her  husband  laughed  good-humouredly  at  her 
vagaries,  as  he  called  them :  "She  is  only  a  child," 
he  cried,  "let  her  play  and  cut  out  dolls'  clothes  for 
those  who  want  them !  When  she  has  grown  up, 
she  will  very  soon  look  out  for  other  diversions." 
"My  dear  child,"  he  would  sometimes  say  to  her, 
"do  exactly  as  you  like.  I  only  beg  of  you  one 
thing:  whenever  you  are  tired  of  these  innocent, 
well-meaning  illusions  and  return  to  rough,  pro- 
saic, brutal  reality ;  whenever  you  feel  yourself  de- 
ceived or  wounded  by  those  whom  you  may  have 
implicitly  trusted,  pray  recollect  that  you  have  a 
natural  protector,  a  real  friend — your  husband !" 

Thus  it  was  that  Hátszegi  spoke  to  his  child- 
wife  on  the  rare  occasions  when  they  met  together. 

It  was  only  rarely,  for  they  saw  nothing  of  each 
other  for  the  greater  part  of  the  day.  During  the 
so-called  honey-moon  the  husband  and  wife  had 

i66 


THE  BLACK  JEWELRY  167 

scarcely  spent  half  an  hour  a  day  in  each  other's 
company. 

On  one  occasion  the  pastor  went  to  Déva,  and 
when  he  returned  he  had  a  lot  to  tell  her  ladyship 
of  a  fine  young  fellow,  Szilárd  by  name,  who  held 
the  office  of  magistrate  at  Lippá.  His  other  name 
he  had  forgotten,  but  Henrietta  easily  guessed  it. 
Mr.  Szilárd  had  been  very  polite  to  him,  the  par- 
son added,  and  had  joyfully  listened  to  all  he  had 
to  tell  him  about  Hidvár  and  its  mistress ;  but 
when  the  priest  had  pressed  him  to  pay  a  visit  to 
that  part  of  the  country  to  see  and  admire  its  rare 
natural  beauties,  the  young  man  had  replied: 
"Anywhere  in  the  world  but  there."  What  pos- 
sible objection  could  he  have  against  the  district? 

This  piece  of  news  gave  Henrietta  plenty  to 
think  about  for  days  and  nights  together.  So 
Szilárd  had  not  remained  at  Pest ;  he  had  followed 
her  to  the  utmost  confines  of  the  realm ;  they  were 
now  quite  close  to  each  other  and  yet  he  would  not 
see  her.  He  seeks  her  out  and  avoids  her  at  the 
same  time.    What  a  romantic  dreamer ! 

And  yet  there  was  nothing  romantic  in  it  after 
all.  Szilárd  had  come  to  Arad  county  on  a  visit 
to  Mr.  Sipos's  relations ;  he  had  been  elected  a 
magistrate  there,  and  he  did  not  approach  Hidvár 
because  he  had  no  desire  to  run  after  a  former 
sweetheart  who  was  now  another  man's  wife.  As 
for  Henrietta  she  had  long  ago  earned  from  her 
husband's  friends  the  name  of  the  "little  nun,"  the 
"little  eremite"  because  nothing  could  entice  her 


1 68  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

from  her  seclusion.  If  only  they  had  known  her 
thoughts ! 

One  day,  however,  she  surprised  her  husband  by 
expressing  a  wish  to  go  to  the  Charity  Ball  at  a 
neighbouring  mining  town ;  it  was  for  raising 
funds  to  build  up  again  a  burnt-down  village. 

Hátszegi,  always  courteous,  bowed  and  con- 
sented. 

Henrietta  had  made  up  her  mind  to  go  as  sim- 
ply dressed  as  possible.  She  wanted  to  be  modest 
and  humble,  as  it  befitted  a  woman  who,  rich  her- 
self, envied  everyone  who  was  poor.  While  she 
was  still  in  the  midst  of  her  preparations,  she  re- 
ceived through  the  post  (Margari  went  to  the 
nearest  post-office  once  a  week)  a  little  sealed 
packet  which,  to  judge  from  the  postmark,  must 
have  been  posted  at  Lippá,  Before  breaking  it 
open,  she  locked  herself  in  her  room,  like  one 
about  to  commit  a  capital  offence,  and  three  times 
examined  the  seals  which  guarded  it  before  she 
ventured  to  open  it.  The  seal  bore  the  impress  not 
of  a  crest  or  an  initial  letter  as  usual,  but  of  a 
single  star.  There  could  be  no  doubt  whatever 
now  as  to  who  the  sender  was. 

Then,  very  cautiously,  she  broke  the  seals  and 
opened  with  a  beating  heart  the  lid  of  the  box.  In- 
side was  a  little  morocco  casket. 

With  a  tremulous  hand  she  opened  it,  and 
found  inside  it  a  pair  of  earrings  and  a  brooch. 
Both  earrings  and  brooch  were  of  oxydized  sil- 
ver, dark  blue  in  colour  passing  insensibly  into 


THE  BLACK  JEWELRY  169 

black.  The  pendants  of  the  earrings  were  in  the 
shape  of  Httle  fishes  hanging  upon  Httle  hooks  and 
with  mobile  little  scales,  which  at  the  slightest 
movement  made  them  seem  alive.  Each  of  them 
had  a  pair  of  very  tiny  but  very  brilliant  diamond 
eyes.  The  brooch  on  the  other  hand  represented 
a  butterfly,  also  with  two  sparkling  diamond  eyes ; 
one  of  them  was  blue,  a  rare  colour  for  a  diamond. 

Henrietta  was  indeed  pleasantly  surprised. 

There  was  not  a  line  of  writing  along  with 
them,  but  was  there  any  necessity  for  it?  How 
simple,  how  nice  it  all  was!  How  well  he  must 
know  her  taste  who  had  selected  it !  Her  husband 
could  never  have  hit  upon  such  an  idea. 

What  should  she  say  to  her  husband  if  he 
should  notice  them?  But  why  should  she  show 
them  to  anybody  ?  She  would  not  even  put  them 
on  till  the  last  moment,  just  before  she  started  on 
her  journey.  All  day  long  she  was  as  happy  as  a 
child  who  is  going  to  its  first  party;  even  in  her 
husband's  presence  she  could  not  control  her  de- 
light. 

But  Hátszegi  never  enquired  why  she  was  so 
joyous.  On  the  day  before  the  entertainment  he 
went  with  his  wife  to  the  town  in  question,  where 
he  owned,  not  the  castle,  it  is  true,  but  a  comforta- 
ble mansion  of  considerable  extent,  whose  first 
floor  was  rented  by  a  mining  engineer  and  his 
family.  These  worthy  people  felt  highly  honoured 
at  receiving  the  baron  and  his  lady  beneath  their 
roof.    They  gave  their  distinguished  guests  their 


l7o  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

best  rooms  which  looked  out  upon  the  street,  and 
retired  themselves  to  the  back  of  the  house.  The 
mining  engineer  had  a  pretty  young  wife,  with 
whom  Henrietta  immediately  made  friends.  La- 
dies love  the  close  companionship  of  their  own  sex 
best  whenever  something  entirely  different  is  oc- 
cupying their  thoughts. 

On  the  morning  of  the  great  day  the  big-wigs 
of  the  little  town  hastened  to  pay  their  respects  to 
the  great  lady  who  had  arrived  in  their  midst,  and 
whose  reputation  for  benevolence  had  spread  far 
and  wide.  Amongst  them  was  an  aged  woman 
whose  hands  and  head  were  continually  shaking, 
and  who  almost  collapsed  with  terror  every  time 
anybody  accosted  her  unexpectedly.  She  was  the 
widow  of  a  Unitarian  pastor,  well  to  do,  people 
said,  and  a  large  mining  proprietor.  Her  nervous 
affection  was  due  to  a  painful  episode  in  her  life. 
One  night  Fatia  Negra  and  his  band  had  broken 
into  her  house  and  played  havoc  there,  and  ever 
since  she  had  been  tremulous  and  easily  terror- 
stricken.  The  old  woman  was  delighted  to  see 
Henrietta,  whom  she  called  the  guardian  angel  of 
the  county,  and  she  would  not  be  content  till  she 
had  seized  Henrietta's  little  hands  in  her  own 
trembling  ones  and  raised  them  painfully  to  her 
lips. 

At  last  the  joyous  evening  arrived.  Henrietta 
put  on  a  very  simple  ball-dress,  compared  with 
which  the  dress  of  the  mining  engineer's  wife  was 
reallv  luxurious.     The  black  ornaments  well  be- 


THE  BLACK  JEWELRY  171 

came  her  attire,  but  the  engineer's  wife  was  as- 
tounded at  the  simpHcity  of  the  great  lady's  cos- 
tume. She  had  now  only  one  anxious  moment  to 
go  through,  the  moment  when  her  husband  first 
saw  the  new  ornaments.  But  this  moment  sped 
away  without  any  catastrophe,  although  with 
much  of  heart  throbbing.  Hátszegi  observed  the 
jewels  in  the  ears  and  round  the  neck  of  his  bride 
and  paid  her  the  compliment  of  saying  that  they 
contrasted  admirably  with  the  snowy  whiteness 
of  her  alabaster  neck. 

So  no  ill  came  of  it  after  all. 

When  the  time  came,  the  baron's  carriage 
drove  up  to  the  door  and  the  ladies  entered  it.  The 
baron  himself  was  to  come  afterwards  with  the 
mining  engineer  when  the  empty  carriage  re- 
turned. In  the  meantime  the  baroness  was  en- 
trusted to  the  care  of  the  mining  engineer's  wife, 
who  was  one  of  the  notabilities  of  the  little  town. 

The  ball  was  to  take  place  in  the  large  room  of 
the  chief  inn  of  the  place,  and  the  baroness,  on 
entering  it,  was  surrounded  by  a  crowd  of  ad- 
mirers. The  young  wáfe  felt  that  she  was  being 
made  much  of.  She  felt  in  the  midst  of  all  this 
homage  and  devotion  as  if  she  had  been  lifted  up 
to  Heaven,  and  her  heart  was  full  of  gratitude.  If 
he  be  here  (and  he  uuist  be  here  somewhere,  hid- 
ing in  the  crowd,  no  doubt,  in  order  not  to  excite 
attention)  then  he  will  be  able  to  see  from  his  hid- 
ing-place how  pale  the  face  of  his  old  love  is  from 


172  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

sorrow — and   yet   how    radiant   because   of    the 
honour  now  shown  to  her. 

But  Szilárd  did  not  see  her  face  at  that  mo- 
ment. He  was  far  away,  never  dreaming  that 
anybody  still  thought  of  him.  A  surprise  of  quite 
another  sort  awaited  Henrietta. 

After  she  had  twice  walked  round  the  room — 
there  was  a  pause  just  then  between  two  dances 
— she  perceived  sitting  on  a  corner  seat  the  old 
lady  already  alluded  to,  whose  head  and  hands 
were  always  shaking  so,  and  hastened  up  to  her 
as  to  an  old  acquaintance. 

The  old  pastor's  wife,  perceiving  Henrietta, 
rose  at  first  from  her  seat  in  order  to  meet  her  half 
way,  but  the  next  moment  she  fell  back  horror- 
stricken,  at  the  same  time  stretching  out  both 
hands  in  front  of  her  with  widely-outspread 
fingers  as  if  to  ward  her  off.  Henrietta,  unable 
to  explain  this  odd  gesture,  remained  rooted  to  the 
spot  with  astonishment. 

The  old  lady,  still  continuing  to  stretch  out  her 
trembling  hands,  now  advanced  towards  her  with 
tottering  footsteps  indeed,  yet  with  flaming  eyes. 
Everyone  regarded  the  two  women  with  amaze- 
ment. There  was  a  dead  silence,  and  in  the  midst 
of  this  astonishment,  in  the  midst  of  this  silence, 
the  old  woman  shrieked  with  a  voice  full  of  horror 
that  turned  everybody's  blood  cold :  "Madame ! — 
those  jewels — on  your  neck — that  black  butter- 
fly— 'tis  the  very  same — which  on  that  fearful 
night — that  accursed  Fatia  Negra — tore  from  my 


THE  BLACK  JEWELRY  173 

neck — those  black  earrings  which  he  tore  from  my 
ears — one  eye  of  the  butterfly  is  a  blue  diamond !" 

Henrietta  felt  as  if  the  floor  were  slipping  away 
from  beneath  her  feet.  She  was  wearing  stolen 
jewels  on  her  neck,  and  their  former  owner  had 
recognized  them ! 

She  heard  a  hissing  and  a  murmuring  all 
around  her.  She  gazed  about  her,  possibly  for  a 
protector,  and  she  perceived  that  she  was  standing 
alone  in  the  midst  of  the  room  and  that  everyone 
recoiled  from  her,  even  her  companion,  and  all 
eyes  were  fixed  upon  her.  She  had  a  feeling  of 
being  branded  with  red-hot  irons  as  she  stood 
there,  dishonoured  and  unprotected  in  the  midst 
of  so  many  strangers,  and  over  against  her  a  ter- 
rible accuser  who  had  the  horrible  right  to  ask 
her:  "Madame,  where  did  you  get  those  stolen 
jewels?" — and  she  had  nought  to  say  to  such  a 
question. 

At  that  moment  a  manly  voice,  which  she  at 
once  recognized,  rang  uut  close  beside  her. 

"Madame,  give  me  your  arm ! — I  bought  those 
jewels  for  you  at  Paris.  I  will  be  responsible  for 
them." 

It  was  her  husband.  And  with  that,  he  strode 
up  to  his  wife,  seized  her  hand  and,  casting  a 
glance  at  the  surrounding  throng,  cried  in  a 
threatening  voice  to  those  closest  to  him :  "Who- 
ever dares  to  cast  a  disrespectful  glance  upon  my 
wife,  will  have  to  reckon  with  me.  Make  rcx)m 
there!" 


174  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

Henrietta  saw  how  the  crowd  made  way,  how 
everyone  stepped  aside  at  this  word  of  command; 
she  saw  even  the  shaking  widow  sit  down  some- 
where; but  then  everything  began  to  grow  black 
before  her  eyes  and  she  sank  swooning  into  the 
arms  of  the  man  whom,  hitherto,  she  had  hated 
so  much,  and  who  in  this  most  awful  moment 
had  been  her  sole  deliverer!  When  she  came  to 
again,  she  found  herself  in  the  carriage.  Her 
husband  had  not  stayed  a  single  instant  longer  in 
that  town,  but  was  conveying  her,  though  it  was 
now  night  time,  straight  to  Hid  vár. 

It  is  not  very  advisable  to  travel  in  pitch-black 
darkness  along  mountain  roads.  Henrietta  could 
gather  from  the  slow  jolting  of  the  coach  that 
they  were  proceeding  very  cautiously.  She  opened 
the  window  and  peeped  out.  She  then  saw  her 
husband  walking  along  by  the  side  of  the  coach 
with  a  lantern  in  his  hand  picking  his  way.  The 
coachman  was  sitting  on  the  box  and  the  hey- 
duke  was  close  to  the  carriage  in  order  to  steady 
it  over  the  more  difhcult  places. 

A  voice  within  her  reproached  her  for  hating 
this  man  so  long — how  could  she  have  done  it? 
He  had  always  been  delicacy  itself  towards  her, 
he  had  never  demanded  anything  of  her,  and  no 
doubt  the  reason  why  he  had  held  back  from  his 
young  wife  for  a  time  was  because  he  would  not 
importune  her  with  his  presence — her  who  had 
now  learnt  to  recognize  him  as  her  sole  protector ! 

After  a  vast  amount  of  jolting  and  tumbling 


THE  BLACK  JEWELRY  I75 

about,  they  got  at  last  on  to  a  regular  road  again. 
Here  the  baron  halted  the  coach  and  looked  inside, 
it.     When  he  saw  that   Henrietta  was   awake, 
he  asked  her  if  she  wanted  anything,  and  whether 
she  would  allow  him  to  sit  down  beside  her. 

Henrietta  had  resolved  to  tell  her  husband 
everything  at  the  very  first  question,  everything, 
even  to  her  most  secret  enthusiasms;  nay,  even 
that  which  God  alone  could  read  in  her  heart. 
But  Hátszegi  gave  her  no  opportunit)''  of  doing  so. 

"My  dear  Henrietta,"  said  he,  "don't  imagine 
for  a  moment  that  I  shall  trouble  my  head  as  to 
how  you  came  into  possession  of  that  mysterious 
jewelry,  or  why  you  should  have  chosen  them  out 
of  all  your  bijous  to  wear  on  this  particular  even- 
ing. I  have  charged  myself  with  all  the  respon- 
sibility in  the  matter.  I  could  not  think  of  any- 
thing more  appropriate  to  say  at  the  moment. 
Only  one  thing  I  beg  of  you :  tell  me  no  lies.  Act 
as  if  you  had  received  the  jewelry  from  me.  I 
will  so  arrange  the  matter  that  nothing  more  will 
be  heard  about  it.  Such  things  may  happen  to 
anybody.  The  only  awkwardness  about  the  busi- 
ness is  that  the  things  were  recognized  in  such  a 
public  place,  and  that  the  former  possessor  of  the 
ornaments  is  so  extremely  nervous.  Don't  be 
afraid !  Give  me  your  hand !  Why  do  you  trem- 
ble so?  I'll  guarantee  that  there  shall  be  no  un- 
pleasant consequences  for  you.  In  case,  how-^ver, 
you  did  not  receive  this  jewelry  from  your  dear 
grandfather,  I  ought.  I  think,  to  write  to  the  good 


176  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

old  man  and  put  his  mind  at  ease  by  letting  him 
know  that  I  gave  it  you,  as  goodness  only  knows 
what  Rumour  may  whisper  in  his  ear." 

Could  any  man  have  asked  his  wife  for  a  con- 
fession more  tenderly? 

"Shall  I  write  to  him?" 

"Yes,  write,"  said  Henrietta,  and  with  that  she 
fell  upon  her  husband's  bosom  and  began  to  sob 
bitterly — and  a  husband's  breast  is  no  bad  place 
for  a  wife's  flowing  tears. 

Henrietta  was  forced  to  confess  to  herself  that 
her  husband,  at  least  so  far  as  she  was  concerned, 
was  a  man  of  noble  and  tender  sentiments.  From 
henceforth  she  began  to  regard  him  through 
a  glass  of  quite  another  colour;  she  began  to  be- 
lieve that  the  faults  she  had  noticed  in  him  were 
only  the  usual  bad  habits  of  his  sex,  and  began  to 
discover  all  sorts  of  hidden  good  qualities  in  him. 
She  began  to  love  her  husband. 

When  early  next  morning  the  carriage  stood  in 
the  courtyard  of  Hidvár.  Henrietta  awoke  in  her 
husband's  arms :  there  she  had  been  sleeping  for  a 
long  time.  When  she  looked  round  and  encoun- 
tered Hátszegi's  bright  manly  glances  it  almost 
seemed  to  her  as  if  the  dreadful  scene  of  the  night 
before  was  a  mere  dream,  from  which  it  was  a  joy 
to  awake.  When  her  husband  kissed  her  hand 
before  departing  for  his  own  room,  Henrietta 
pressed  his  hand  in  return  and  gave  him  a  grate- 
ful smile. 

But  what  then  was  the  key  to  this  horrible  mys- 


THE  BLACK  JEWELRY  I77 

tery?  Who  could  have  hit  upon  the  idea  of  send- 
ing this  jewelry?  There  was  not  a  gleam  of  light 
to  go  by.  An  enigma  closed  the  way  to  every 
elucidation,  and  this  enigma  was — Fatia  Negra. 
How  did  the  jewelry  get  out  of  his  hands  into 
Henrietta's?  What  was  the  motive  for  such  a 
transfer?  And  who  was  the  man  himself?  This 
thought  gave  Henrietta  no  rest. 

Why  could  they  not  seize  this  famous  robber? 
First  of  all,  she  kept  on  asking  her  husband  about 
it,  and  he  replied  that  the  whole  story  about  Fatia 
Negra  was  only  a  Wallachian  fable.  It  was  true 
that  robberies  were  committed  by  men  who  regu- 
larly wore  black  masks,  but  it  was  never  one  and 
the  same  man  who  was  guilty  of  these  misdeeds. 
Xevertheless  the  name  had  won  a  sort  of  nimbus 
of  notoriety  among  the  common  people,  many  had 
made  use  of  it  as  well  as  of  the  mask  attaching  to 
it,  and  though  it  was  an  undeniable  fact  that  Fatia 
Negra  had  been  caught  and  hanged  more  than 
once,  yet  he  still  continued  to  live  and  go  about. 
The  popular  mythology  had  immortalized  him. 

The  parson,  however,  had  quite  a  different 
opinion  of  the  matter ;  he  seemed  to  be  more  par- 
ticularly informed.  Although  he  opined  Fatia 
Negra  wandered  through  every  corner  of  the 
kingdom,  his  abiding  nest  was  in  this  district;  he 
had  a  sweetheart  here  to  whom  he  appeared 
periodically. 

"Why  don't  they  seize  him  then?"  asked  Hen- 
rietta. 


178  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

''Because  a  part  of  the  common  folks  holds  with 
him,  and  the  other  part  thinks  he  is  in  league  with 
the  devil." 

"I  would  set  a  high  price  on  his  head  and  give 
it  to  whomsoever  caught  him." 

"Oh,  my  lady,  the  various  counties  have  done 
that  scores  of  times,  and  now  and  then  a  young 
fellow  braver  than  the  rest  has  tried  to  catch  him ; 
but  they  have  all  of  them  ended  by  losing  their 
own  heads  instead  of  getting  his." 

"Never  mind,  I  will  not  be  satisfied  till  that 
man  is  in  my  power.  Ah,  the  robber-chieftain  lit- 
tle imagines  what  an  enemy  he  has  raised  up 
against  him  in  me.  when  he  put  this  terrible  riddle 
into  my  heart.  And  it  is  a  riddle  I  mean  to  solve, 
too." 

The  priest  shook  his  head  as  if  he  would  have 
said :  "Strong  men  have  given  up  the  task,  what 
can  a  weak  woman  do?" 

Henrietta  told  her  husband  not  a  word  of  all 
this,  and  the  chatter  about  the  black  jewelry  grad- 
ually died  a  natural  death.  Hátszegi  sent  back 
her  property  to  the  widow  and  told  her  where  she 
could  find  the  vendor — in  Paris.  We  can  readily 
imagine  that  she  did  not  go  all  the  way  to  Paris 
to  make  enquiries,  being  quite  content  with  get- 
ting back  her  stolen  property. 

This  incident  made  such  an  impression  on  Hen- 
rietta that"  she  avoided  all  those  circles  in  which 
she  had  been  so  ruthlessly  exposed  to  insult.  A 
blush  of  shame  and  anger  sufiused  her  face  when- 


THE  BLACK  JEWELRY  1 79 

ever  she  thought  of  it.  She  also  abandoned  all 
her  work  of  benevolence  among  the  people.  She 
began  to  think  that  her  husband  was  right  after  all 
when  he  said,  as  he  did  continually :  "Let  the 
gentry  stick  to  the  gentry,  and  the  poor  to  the 
poor !"  In  fact  she  was  now  inclined  to  think  him 
right  in  everything;  the  easiest  thing  a  wife  can 
do,  she  said  to  herself,  is  to  trust  her  husband  im- 
plicitly. Henceforth  Henrietta  adopted  another 
mode  of  life;  her  motto  now  was :  "Whatever  my 
husband  chooses,  for  at  home  he  is  my  lord!" 

So  the  halls  of  Hidvár  overflowed  with  guests 
again,  and  balls,  soirees,  and  picnics  followed  each 
other  in  quick  succession.  The  young  wife  learnt 
to  know  the  gentry  and  magnates  of  Transylvania 
face  to  face,  and  it  was  no  wonder  if  she  quickly 
accommodated  herself  to  her  new  surroundings 
and  began  to  be  reconciled  to  her  fate.  She  felt 
like  one  who,  after  seeing  a  landscape  by  moon- 
light and  thinking  it  highly  crude,  sees  it  again 
by  the  light  of  day  and  finds  it  quite  different. 

And  now  the  autumn  came,  the  season  when 
men  prepare  and  congregate  together  for  danger- 
ous hunting  expeditions.  Bears  and  boars  are 
now  the  only  topics.  For  a  week  beforehand  the 
women  cannot  get  a  word  out  of  the  gentlemen, 
they  herd  together  in  the  armoury  and  talk  of 
nothing  but  guns  and  dogs,  firing  each  other  by 
recounting  their  past  exploits,  making  bets,  and 
playing  at  cards.  The  ladies  at  such  times  are 
shelved  nltoeether. 


l8o  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

During  the  actual  hunting  season  the  men  are 
not  to  be  seen  for  whole  weeks  at  a  time,  but  off 
they  go  to  the  woods  and  stalk  or  lurk  for  their 
prey  in  the  midst  of  water  and  ice,  and  the  ladies 
think  it  nothing  extraordinary  if  their  husbands 
or  lovers,  as  the  case  may  be,  come  back,  or  are 
carried  back,  drenched  with  rain,  invisible  for 
mud,  with  their  garments  torn  to  shreds  and  their 
limbs  mangled;  for  after  all  it  is  the  only  manly 
diversion — the  only  diversion  really  fit  for  a  gen- 
tleman. 

When  the  bear-hunting  began,  that  heroic  crip- 
ple, Squire  Gezson,  also  appeared  with  Count 
Kengyelesy  and  numerous  other  familiar  faces 
from  distant  counties,  who  had  all  met  together 
on  the  day  after  Henrietta's  wedding,  and  who 
regularly  made  Hidvár  their  autumn  trysting- 
place. 

Count  Kengyelesy  did  not  bring  his  wife  with 
him :  the  little  rogue  on  her  husband's  departure 
declared  that  she  was  ill  and  remained  behind — 
verhum  sap! 

Henrietta  was  very  much  occupied  by  the  du- 
ties of  hospitality.  She  took  a  pride  in  anticipating 
the  wants  of  all  her  guests,  and  at  the  evening 
soirees  she  played  the  part  of  hostess  with  be- 
coming aplomb. 

One  day  the  gentlemen  with  their  beaters, 
rangers,  dogs,  and  carts,  had  all  gone  off  to  the 
forest  as  usual,  and  Henrietta  was  left  alone  in  the 
castle  with  Clementina,  Margari,  and  the  domes- 


THE  BLACK  JEWELRY  i8i 

tics.  As  for  Margari,  he  would  not  have  gone  to 
the  woods  for  all  the  bears  in  the  world. 

Clementina,  solemnly  cackling  gossip  as  usual, 
imparted  to  Henrietta  that  the  night  before,  when 
the  gentlemen  played  at  cards,  the  luck  had  run 
dead  against  Hátszegi :  Count  Kengyelesy  had 
won  back  from  him  the  whole  of  the  Kengyelesy 
estate.  "Thank  God!"  sighed  Henrietta  at  this 
glad  intelligence.  This  was  one  of  the  things  that 
had  weighed  down  her  heart  like  a  nightmare,  one 
of  the  partition-walls,  so  to  speak,  which  had 
hitherto  separated  her  from  her  husband.  This, 
at  any  rate,  had  now  disappeared. 

Clementina  went  on  to  say  that  my  lord  baron 
had  not  cared  a  straw  for  this  loss;  nay,  he  had 
laughed  and  said  that  it  only  showed  how  lucky  he 
was  in  love.  Henrietta  applied  the  saying  to  her- 
self and  began  to  be  quite  proud  of  it. 

The  count,  however,  pursued  Clementina,  had 
said  that  he  durst  not  rejoice  in  his  winnings  or 
that  accursed  Fatia  Negra  might  rob  him  of  them 
again  on  the  highroad  as  he  had  done  once  before. 

A  cold  shudder  ran  through  Henrietta's  limbs 
at  that  accursed  name.  That  Fatia  Negra !  She 
had  already  begun  to  forget  him.  And  thus  old 
memories  began  to  revive,  and  at  last  her  excited 
imagination  began  to  fancy  that  there  was  some 
sort  of  connecting  link  between  Szilárd  and  Fatia 
Negra,  between  the  dearest  and  the  most  terrible 
of  beings!  What  if  her  rejected  lover  had 
avenged  himself  by  publicly  shaming  her!  It  was 


l82  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

with  such  anxieties  as  these  that  the  young  wife 
went  to  sleep  in  her  lonely  chamber. 

Early  next  day  she  received  a  visit  from  the 
priest. 

All  the  time  the  army  of  guests  was  going  in 
and  out  of  the  castle  gates,  he  never  came  near 
the  place,  but  now  he  hastened  to  exchange  a  few 
words  with  the  lady  of  the  house.  And  Henrietta 
was  very  glad  that  he  had  come. 

"I  bring  you  news  of  Fatia  Negra  and  of  other 
things  also,"  said  the  priest,  as  soon  as  he  was 
alone  with  the  lady. 

Henrietta  was  instantly  all  attention. 

"Yesterday  the  famous  buttervvoman  who 
dwells  at  Dupe  Piatra  came  to  open  her  soul  to 
me  in  a  very  difficult  matter.  This  woman,  as 
the  whole  country-side  knows,  is  a  famous  quack 
and  a  preparer  of  such  specifics  as  it  is  unlawful 
for  one  man  to  give  to  another.  Formerly  she 
was  visited  by  multitudes  of  people  suffering  from 
every  sort  of  ill — especially  girls.  More  than  once 
she  has  paid  dearly  for  her  quackery,  for  the 
county  authorities  apprehended  her  for  poisoning, 
and  clapped  her  into  jail  for  some  years.  Since 
then  she  has  grown  more  cautious  and  does  not 
care  about  seeing  everyone  in  her  lonely  little 
forest  hut,  especially  since  I  impressed  upon  her 
severely  what  a  heavy  load  she  was  burdening  her 
conscience  with  by  turning  the  secret  healing 
forces  which  Nature  had  implanted  in  the  herbs 
of  the  field,  to  the  destruction  of  ignorant  human- 


I 


THE  BLACK  JEWELRY  1 83 

ity.  Yesterday,  then,  this  woman  came  to  me 
(and  it  is  a  very  rare  thing  to  see  her  among  men) 
and  informed  me  that  last  night  Fatia  Negra  had 
visited  her." 

Henrietta  shuddered  all  over.  So  he  was  as 
near  as  that ! 

"The  medicine-woman  said  that  the  mask  re- 
quested her  to  prepare  poison  for  him  that  would 
be  sure  to  kill.  She  said  she  would  not  as  she 
had  no  wish  to  fall  again  into  the  hands  of  the 
county  authorities.  He  promised  her  money,  he 
showed  her  a  lot  of  ducats.  She  told  him  it 
wouldn't  do.  Then  he  drew  forth  a  pistol,  pressed 
the  barrel  to  her  temples,  and  threatened  instantly 
to  blow  her  brains  out  if  she  did  not  comply  with 
his  request.  'Very  well,'  said  she,  'fire  away:  I 
would  rather  be  shot  than  hanged.'  Perceiving 
he  could  do  nothing  with  her  by  threats,  he  fell  to 
entreating,  and  said  it  was  not  a  man  he  wanted 
to  poison  but  a  wild  beast.  'What  sort  of  a  beast 
do  you  want  to  kill  ?'  she  asked  him.  'That  is  no 
business  of  yours,'  said  he.  'But  it  is  my  busi- 
ness,' she  replied,  'for  the  poison  that  a  wolf  or  a 
savage  dog  will  eat,  a  bear  will  not  even  sniff  at, 
and  what  makes  one  beast  ill,  on  that  will  another 
beast  thrive.'  'Then  you  must  know  that  it  is  a 
bear.' — 'Swear  that  you  do  not  want  the  venom 
for  a  human  being.'  Fatia  Negra  swore  with  all 
sorts  of  subterranean  oaths  that  it  was  really  for 
a  bear  that  he  wanted  the  poison.  The  medicine- 
woman  thereupon  prepared  for  him  a  mortal  con- 


1 84  POOR  PLUTOCRATvS 

coction  capable  of  killing  the  most  vigorous  beast 
in  the  world;  then  she  kneaded  honey-cakes,  a 
delicacy  to  which  bears  are  very  partial  as  every- 
one knows,  and  mixed  it  well  into  them.  Fatia 
Negra  gave  her  ten  ducats  for  the  poison,  but  the 
old  woman's  conscience  would  not  allow  her  to 
rest,  and  the  next  day  she  brought  the  ducats  to 
me  for  the  church's  needs,  as  she  put  it, — and 
would  I  help  her  to  relieve  her  soul  of  the  heavy 
burden  which  oppressed  it.  And  what  now  if 
Fatia  Negra,  contrary  to  his  oath,  were  to  make 
use  of  this  poison  against  his  fellow-men?" 

"That  would  be  horrible,"  said  Henrietta  ap- 
prehensively. 

"I  don't  think  he  will,"  said  the  priest;  "the 
poison  is  really  meant  for  a  beast." 

"I  suppose  he  wants  to  kill  some  animal  who  is 
a  domestic  guardian,  in  order  that  he  may  rob  a 
rich  man's  house." 

"No.  He  wants  to  kill  a  faithful  animal  in  or- 
der that  he  may  steal  a  poor  man's  only  treasure 
— his  wife." 

"How  so?" 

"Listen,  my  lady,  and  I  will  tell  you.  After  this 
had  happened,  Juon  Tare's  wife,  Mariora,  came 
to  me  at  an  unusual  hour.  Generally  she  only 
comes  on  a  Sunday  for  prayers.  What  she  said  to 
me  was  not  so  much  a  confession  made  to  a  priest 
as  a  confidence  reposed  in  a  friend ;  I  am  therefore 
not  committing  sacrilege  by  retailing  it  to  another 


THE  BLACK  JEWELRY  185 

person.  That  young  woman  is  exposed  to  tempta- 
tion." 

"What!  in  the  midst  of  the  forest?" 

"Yes,  in  the  midst  of  the  forest,  where,  for 
weeks  at  a  stretch,  the  herdsman  hears  no  other 
human  voice  than  his  own  thrown  back  to  him 
by  the  echoes.  The  seducer  in  this  case  is  Fatia 
Negra." 

"Then  he  must  dwell  hard  by." 

"None  knows  his  abiding  dwelling,  but  his  tem- 
porary resting  places  among  the  high  Alps  are 
these  herdsmen's  lonely  huts.  For  this  reason  he 
lives  in  good  fellowship  with  the  mountain  goat- 
herds, does  them  no  harm,  brings  presents  for 
them  and  their  wives,  pays  handsomely  for  every 
bit  of  bread,  and  thus  makes  it  pretty  sure  that 
they  will  never  betray  him.  The  place  where  Juon 
Tare's  wife  dwells  is  called  the  ice  valley.  They 
call  it  so  because  it  is  here  that  the  first  ice  of  the 
winter  appears;  as  early  as  mid-September  the 
stream  is  fringed  with  it.  There,  by  the  side  of 
the  stream,  stands  a  little  wooden  hut.  one  of 
whose  walls  reposes  on  the  ascending  rock  be- 
hind it.  Here  dwells  the  fair  Mariora  all  alone. 
And  yet  I  am  wrong  to  say  alone,  for  three  of 
them  dwell  together  there — herself,  a  little  one- 
year-old  child,  and  a  tame  bear.  Her  husband  she 
sometimes  does  not  see  for  a  week  at  a  time,  es- 
pecially in  the  autumn  and  winter  when  the 
freshly  fallen  snow  has  obliterated  the  pastures. 
At  such  times  the  goatherd  encamps  on  the  sum- 


1 86  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

mit  of  the  mountains  and  nourishes  his  kids  by- 
felling  with  his  axe  a  growing  beech-tree,  on 
which  the  little  creatures  fall  and  gnaw  off  the 
juicy  buds.  Whenever  a  snowstorm  overtakes 
him,  the  herdsman  drives  the  goats  into  a  glen, 
and  lest  the  snow  should  bury  them  all  by  the 
morning  while  they  sleep,  he  drives  them  continu- 
ally up  and  down,  thus  making  them  trample 
down  the  falling  flakes.  Meanwhile  Mariora  sits 
at  home  and  spins  the  wool  from  which  she  makes 
her  own  and  her  husband's  clothes,  or  she  pounds 
maize  into  meal  in  a  stone  mortar  for  household 
needs,  playing  at  intervals  with  her  child." 

"And  an  evil  hand  would  destroy  their  simple 
joys!" 

"Hitherto  the  goatherd  and  his  wife  feared 
nothing.  It  is  good  to  be  in  those  solitudes.  God 
dwells  very  near  to  them  there.  Then,  too,  Juon 
Tare  is  a  strong  man ;  no  evil  beast  can  harm  him. 
Nor  has  he  any  fear  of  robbers.  What  can  they 
deprive  him  of?  Mariora  is  in  a  good  place  out 
of  the  reach  of  snow-storms.  If  a  savage  beast 
or  a  vagabond  were  to  try  to  harm  her,  there  is 
Ursu,  the  bear,  with  the  terrible  jaws, — he  would 
tear  them  to  pieces.  So  your  ladyship  will  per- 
ceive that  Juon  Tare's  castle  is  provided  with  a 
very  strong  guardian  against  thieves  and  wild 
beasts — ^but  who  can  guard  it  against  the  wily  and 
the  insinuating?  Fatia  Negra  is  a  guest  of  long- 
standing at  the  hut  in  the  ice  valley,  and  never 
goes   thither   empty   handed.      He   brought   the 


THE  BLACK  JEWELRY  187 

woman  pearls  and  coral  which  she  innocently 
hung  about  her  person.  How  was  she  to  know 
whether  such  trinkets  were  worth  thousands  or 
whether  they  could  be  bought  in  a  pedler's  booth 
for  a  few  pence  ?  She  fancies  it  is  but  the  thank- 
offering  of  a  grateful  guest.  But  now  her  eyes 
have  been  opened  to  the  fact  that  these  gifts  are 
costly,  very  costly, — for  the  Black  Mask  de- 
manded a  price  for  them  which  all  the  treasures 
in  the  world  could  not  outweigh,  a  price,  the  bare 
mention  of  which  caused  her  to  shut  the  door  in 
his  face.  And  when  he,  unable  to  obtain  his  de- 
sire by  fair  words,  attempted  to  gain  his  object  by 
force,  a  single  cry  for  help  from  the  woman 
caused  Fatia  Negra  to  feel  Ursu's  paws  on  his 
shoulders  and  so  he  knows  that  this  lonely  woman 
is  right  well  defended.  Only  at  Mariora's  com- 
mand did  the  bear  release  Black  Mask  who,  at- 
tacked from  behind,  was  unable  to  defend  him- 
self. Burning  with  rage,  he  quitted  the  hut  and 
said,  meaningly  to  the  woman :  'You  shall  be 
mine  nevertheless !'  Mariora  came  to  me  next 
day,  full  of  despair,  telling  me  the  whole  story, 
and  asking  me  whether  she  ought  to  tell  her  hus- 
band. I  advised  her  to  keep  the  secret  in  her  own 
bosom  and  to  close  her  door  against  Fatia  Negra. 
Oh,  I  know  the  fellow!  It  is  good  to  gT.iard 
ag-ainst  him  but  it  is  not  advisable  to  scratch  him. 
He  is  no  ordinary  man.  And  now  putting  together 
all  this  with  the  confession   of   the   Dupe  Piatra 


1 88  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

milk-woman,  I  have  a  strong  suspicion  that  Fatia 
Negra  wants  to  poison  the  herdsman's  bear." 

"I  will  not  allow  it,"  interrupted  the  baroness 
emphatically. 

"We  shall  scarcely  be  able  to  prevent  it,  my 
lady,  for  how  can  we  warn  the  dwellers  in  the 
mountain  hut  of  their  danger?  It  is  of  no  use 
sending  a  letter  for  they  cannot  read.  We  can- 
not entrust  the  secret  to  anyone,  for  no  living  soul 
in  these  parts  would  dare  to  convey  any  message 
to  the  disadvantage  of  the  mysterious  Fatia 
Negra.  I  myself  dare  not  do  it.  I  too  am  afraid 
of  him.  I  am  sure  that  if  he  found  it  out,  and  he 
is  sure  to  do  so,  my  days  would  be  numbered." 

"Yet  I  know  someone  who  will  take  this  mes- 
sage to  the  hut  of  Juon  Tare." 

"Not  your  ladyship,  I  hope?" 

"No.  Even  if  I  knew  my  way  among  these 
mountains  I  would  not  venture  to  expose  myself 
to  the  perils  of  such  a  journey  after  my  last  ex- 
perience; since  then  I  have  grown  timid  and 
nervous.  But  I  know  of  one  who  will  hasten  to 
take  it,  who  will  not  be  afraid,  and  who  will  show 
no  mercy  to  him  before  whom  everyone  else 
trembles." 

The  priest  did  not  guess  to  whom  Henrietta 
alluded,  yet  he  himself  had  once  told  her  ladyship 
that  Black  Mask  had  a  sv/eetheart  to  whom  he 
had  been  married,  not  before  a  priest  indeed,  but 
in  the  sight  of  Heaven,  and  that  this  woman 
was  very  jealous  and  very  brave.     "But  I  beg  of 


THE  BLACK  JEWELRY  189 

your  ladyship,"  the  priest  had  said  on  that  occa- 
sion, "to  leave  my  name  out  of  the  transaction  if 
you  repeat  this  secret,  for  otherwise,  people  will 
hear  one  fine  morning  that  the  worthy  pastor  of 
Hidvár  has  been  found  in  his  room  with  a  split 
skull." 

Scarcely  had  the  priest  quitted  the  castle  than 
Henrietta  had  the  horses  put  to  the  carriage,  took 
Clementina  with  her  in  order  to  avoid  all  sus- 
picion, and  drove  to  Tökefalu.  There,  in  front  of 
the  house  of  rich  old  Onucz  she  stopped  and  de- 
scended. The  Wallachian  Nabob  was  much 
pleased  to  have  the  honour  of  entertaining  so  dis- 
tinguished a  guest,  and  immediately  spread  his 
table  and  loaded  it  with  preserves,  honey,  and 
fresh  cheese.  Clementina,  who  had  a  good  appe- 
tite, remained  with  their  host  and  made  ready  to 
talk  scandal  of  her  mistress  and  insinuate  that  the 
baroness  wanted  to  get  some  money  without  her 
husband's  knowledge,  whilst  Henrietta  locked 
herself  up  with  Anicza  in  the  latter's  bedroom  and 
talked  with  her  concerning  things  which  had  no 
relationship  whatever  with  money. 


CHAPTER  XI 

TWO  TALES^  OF  WHICH  ONLY  ONE  IS  TRUE 

After  a  couple  of  days  the  whole  hunting  party 
returned  from  the  mountains.  This  was  much 
sooner  than  they  had  determined,  and  the  cause 
was  a  very  serious  accident  which  had  befallen 
Baron  Hátszegi.  They  brought  him  home  in  an 
ambulance  car  to  Henrietta's  great  consternation. 
The  baroness,  sitting  by  the  bedside,  heard  from 
the  doctor  that  her  husband's  wounds  were  seri- 
ous, but  that  his  life  was  not  in  danger,  and  that 
he  might  even  be  allowed  to  smoke  a  cigar  if  he 
liked.  Then  Mr.  Gerszon  related  how  it  had  hap- 
pened: "Only  imagine,  your  ladyship!  This  ir- 
repressible friend  of  ours,  not  content  with  pursu- 
ing game  all  day  through  the  thickets,  learns,  late 
in  the  evening,  that  a  gigantic  old  bear  was  trot- 
ting towards  the  ice  valley,  and,  without  saying  a 
word  to  anybody,  must  needs  leave  the  company 
and  set  off  alone,  late  at  night,  on  the  track,  with 
only  a  double-barrelled  musket  and  not  so  much 
as  a  dog  to  keep  him  company.  The  bear  enticed 
Leonard  further  and  further.  At  last  down  he 
squats  before  him  in  the  bright  moonlight  and  be- 
gins licking  his  paws;  then  suddenly  quits  the 
path  and  disappears.  Leonard  thought  at  first 
that  the  bear  had  returned  within  the  deadly  circle 


TWO  TALES  191 

drawn  for  him  by  our  beaters,  till,  all  at  once,  on 
reaching  a  steep  slope  covered  witli  reeds,  he 
again  heard  a  growling  and  perceived  the  savage 
beast  trying  to  scale  the  slope.  The  place  was  toc^ 
steep  for  a  man  to  climb,  but  a  bear  with  the  help 
of  his  long  strong  claws  can  scale  it  like  a  fly 
climbing  up  a  wall.  Leonard  soon  saw  that  he 
would  be  unable  to  get  a  close  shot  at  the 
bear,  so  he  resolved  to  fire  down  from  where 
he  was  at  random.  But  the  experienced  old 
brute,  guessing  this  good  idea,  instantly  exe- 
cuted one  of  those  surprising  feats  which  only 
fall  within  the  observation  of  veteran  hunters. 
While  Leonard  was  taking  aim,  the  bear  rolled 
rapidly  down  the  steep  incline  by  means  of  a  se- 
ries of  clever  somersaults  and  rushed  upon 
Leonard  with  a  sort  of  swift  shamble.  And 
a  cursed  bad  manoeuvre  it  is,  I  can  tell 
you.  The  acrobatic  beast,  whether  a  man  hits  it 
or  not  inevitably  bears  down  the  hunter  by  his 
sheer  weight,  and  as  a  man's  bones  are  more 
brittle  than  a  beast's,  and  he  has  no  tough  pelt  to 
cover  him  withal,  he  will  be  infallibly  crushed  to 
pulp, — while  the  bear  takes  the  whole  thing  as  a 
mere  joke  and  ambles  on  further.  But  the  whole 
affair  did  not  last  half  as  long  as  I  take  to  tell  it. 
Leonard  had  just  time  enough  to  fling  himself  on 
the  ground  before  the  first  rush  came.  Then  hf 
felt  a  heavy  body  fall  prone  upon  him  and  then 
they  began  to  roll  over  and  over  in  company 
among  all  sorts  of  stones  and  bushes,  till  a  benevo- 


192  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

lent  rock  interrupted  their  rapid  descent.  Fortu- 
nately the  bear  was  underneath  and  lay  stunned  at 
full  length  upon  the  ground.  Our  friend  Leonard 
naturally  did  not  wait  for  his  travelling  compan- 
ions to  pick  him  up.  He  had  lost  his  mus- 
ket and  it  was  a  good  job  that  his  hunting-knife 
had  snapped  off  close  at  the  hilt  instead  of  running 
into  his  body;  then,  too,  his  knees  and  elbows 
were  badly  crushed,  yet  he  had  sufficient  strength 
and  presence  of  mind  to  drag  himself  back  to  our 
hunting  box,  and  his  story  was  a  very  pleasant 
surprise  for  us,  I  can  tell  you.  At  first,  indeed,  we 
were  much  alarmed,  and  fancied  that  every  bone 
in  his  body  was  out  of  joint,  but  now  we  can  look 
on  it  merely  as  soldiers'  luck.  To-morrow  he'll 
be  up  no  doubt,  and  the  day  after  to-morrow  we 
shall  all  be  dancing." 

Henrietta  had  never  removea  her  eyes  from  her 
husband's  face  during  this  narration,  and  it  was 
plain  from  his  looks  that  he  was  not  proud  of  his 
adventure  and  did  not  want  it  talked  about.  "Why 
do  you  frighten  my  wife  to  death?"  he  said.  "It  is 
a  mere  trifle.  Let  me  remain  for  a  whole  night  in 
cold  wet  wraps,  and  to-morrow  I  shall  be  all  right. 
And  now,  enough  of  the  stupid  business.  And  will 
you  please,  Henrietta,  look  after  my  guests  while 
I  lie  here  in  swaddling  bands?  All  I  want  is  a 
couple  of  days  of  rest  and  then  I  shall  be  on  my 
legs  again." 

Towards  midnight  Henrietta  disappeared  from 
among  her  guests  and  went  to  enquire  after  Leon- 


TWO  TALES  193 

ard;  but  she  found  his  chamber  door  locked,  and 
received  no  answer  to  her  gentle  enquiries,  from 
which  she  gathered  that  Leonard  was  still  dozing. 
She  did  not  want  to  disturb  him,  and  as  her  hus- 
band's guests,  judging  by  the  noise  they  made, 
had  evidently  begun  to  amuse  themselves  in  real 
earnest  after  her  departure,  she  did  not  return  to 
them,  but  hastened  to  her  own  chamber. 

How  amazed  was  she  to  find  Anicza  there  clos- 
eted with  Clementina ! 

The  Roumanian  girl  had  been  awaiting  Henri- 
etta for  some  time,  and  Clementina  thought  it 
quite  natural  to  conduct  her  into  her  mistress's 
sleeping-room,  imagining  that  there  was  some 
monetary  transaction  between  them,  of  which  the 
baron  and  the  domestics  need  know  nothing.  In 
order  that  she  might  not  be  bored  by  waiting, 
Clementina  entertained  her  for  a  whole  hour  with 
a  hair-raising  account  of  the  hunting  accident, 
with  which  the  whole  castle  w^as  full.  Anicza  let 
the  other  talk  on  without  so  much  as  a  hint  that 
she  had  a  still  more  hair-raising  and  terrific  tale  to 
tell  of  the  night  just  past  than  ever  Miss  Clemen- 
tina had. 

As  soon  as  Henrietta  perceived  Anicza,  she  po- 
litely requested  Clementina  to  be  so  good  as  to 
leave  them  to  themselves,  a  request  which  Clemen- 
tina very  naturally  regarded  as  incomprehensible; 
and,  of  course,  the  instant  she  had  crossed  the 
threshold,  she  diligently  took  up  her  position  be- 
fore the  keyhole.      She  was,  however,  furious  to 


194  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

discover  that  Henrietta  proceeded,  more  pru- 
dently than  speakers  on  the  stage  who  regularly 
allow  themselves  to  be  overheard  by  eaves-drop- 
pers, for  she  drew  together  the  heavy  damask 
curtains  of  the  alcove  and  retired  behind  them 
with  Anicza,  so  that  neither  prying  eyes  nor 
listening  ears  could  find  anything  there  to  satisfy 
their  inquisitiveness. 

"It  almost  succeeded !"  said  the  Roumanian  girl 
impatiently,  beginning  her  story  at  the  end  instead 
of  at  the  begining. 

"Only  almost?"  repeated  the  dissatisfied  Hen- 
rietta. 

"So  far  the  game  is  neither  over  nor  lost." 

"Did  Fatia  Negra  appear  at  the  hut  in  the  ice 
valley?" 

"Pardon,  my  lady,  but  please  never  mention 
that  name  before  me,  for  on  hearing  it  everything 
I  look  upon  grows  red,  and  every  limb  of  my  body 
begins  to  tremble.  You  see,  my  hands  are  trem- 
bling now.  Let  us  speak  of  him  in  future  as  the 
Unknown;  so  far  as  I  am  concerned  he  shall 
henceforth  be  the  Unknown  for  ever  more." 

"Then  you  met  him  there?" 

"Suffer  me,  my  lady,  to  rally  my  scattered 
wits  a  bit.  Oh!  what  a  horrible  night  this  has 
been !  When  I  look  back  upon  it,  I  feel  giddy.  But 
anger  and  despair  sustain  me.  Oh !  \vhat  have  I 
not  sacrificed  for  that  man,  for  that  devil,  and  oh ! 
how  I  have  been  betrayed!  But  why  should  I 
worry  your  ladyship  with  my  misery!    Listen  to 


TWO  TALES  195 

what  happened.  When  your  ladyship  left  me  the 
other  night,  I  immediately  saddled  my  horse  and 
set  off  for  the  ice  valley.  The  way  thither  is  very 
bad,  dangerous  in  fact,  but  fortunately  the  moon 
was  high  and  bright  and  made  it  easier  for  me  to 
find  the  path.  The  Pole  star  was  already  sinking 
when  I  reached  the  bottom  of  the  valley,  and  I 
could  see  from  afar  that  there  was  a  light  still 
burning  in  the  goatherd's  little  hut.  The  night 
owls  soon  drove  it  out  of  my  eyes,  for  in  that  val- 
ley dwells  so  many  owls,  and  they  are  so  bold  that 
the  tips  of  their  wings  brush  against  people's  faces 
as  they  sweep  past,  I  had  known  Mariora  for  a 
long  time,  while  she  still  lived  at  home  with  her 
father,  but  since  she  became  Juon  Tare's  wife  we 
have  only  seen  each  other  occasionally  and  at  long 
intervals,  and  then  too  only  when  I  visited  her,  for 
she,  the  poorly-married  woman,  never  came  to 
visit  us — the  rich  people.  On  reaching  the  hut,  I 
tied  up  my  horse  and  tapped  at  the  little  window, 
through  which  one  cannot  peep  as,  instead  of 
glass,  the  window-frames  are  filled  with  opaque 
mica  which  Juon  Tare  himself  discovered 
amongst  the  hills.  Mariora  recognized  my  voice 
and  hastened  to  unbar  the  door.  She  was  much 
surprised  and  much  delighted  to  see  me  at  that 
hour.  She  embraced,  kissed  me,  and  burst  into 
tears.  At  first  I  thought  it  was  from  pure  joy, — 
then  I  thought  she  pitied  me.  Ts  there  anything 
wrong?'  I  asked.  Then  she  pulled  herself  to- 
gether, dried  her  tears  and  said :  T  have  an  invalid 


196  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

on  my  hands.' — 'Your  child?' — 'No,  Ursu.' — It 
was  just  as  if  a  viper  had  stung  me. — 'Ursu  sick?' 
I  cried. — 'Yes,  I  don't  know  what  ails  him.  Since 
yesterday  he  has  been  lying  down  shaking  and 
trembling,  while  the  day  before  he  was  skipping 
about  and  turning  somersaults.  Fatia  Negra 
(Domne  Zeu,*  forgive  my  lips  for  uttering  that 
name)  was  playing  with  him  for  a  long  time.' 
'Did  he  come  hither?'  'Yes,  he  said  he  was  on 
his  way  to  you.'  'He  lied.  Then  it  was  he  who 
poisoned  the  bear.' 

"Mariora  trembled  at  these  words,  and  grew 
paler  than  ever. 

"I  seized  her  by  the  hand  and  drew  her  with  me 
into  the  hut.  I  whispered  in  her  ear  that  I  knev/ 
all.  'The  accursed  wretch  has  been  faithless  to  me 
because  of  your  pretty  eyes.  He  swore  to  me  by 
sunlight  and  he  swore  to  you  by  moonlight,  but 
you  would  not  listen  to  him.  You  love  your  hus- 
band and  Black  Mask  relies  on  his  strength  now 
that  fair  words  have  failed.  The  coward  has 
poisoned  your  faithful  guardian  like  the  wretched 
thief,  the  miserable  house-breaker,  that  he  is.' — 
Mariora's  hut  was  lighted  by  the  flame  that  flick- 
ered on  the  hearth.  A  bedstead  of  linden-wood 
covered  with  goat-skins,  a  table  of  slate  and  a  few 
three-legged  chairs  were  all  the  furniture.  There 
was  also  a  nicely  carved  and  painted  little  cradle 
in  which  lay  the  little  child,  sleeping,  with  his 
plump  little  hands  drawn  up  behind  his  head,  like 

♦The  Lord  God. 


TWO  TALES  197 

an  angel.  In  the  extreme  corner  of  the  room  the 
faithful  beast  lay  all  of  a  heap  on  a  lair  of  soft 
moss, — at  the  last  gasp.  He  groaned  and  shiv- 
ered continually  like  one  in  a  fever,  and  raised  his 
failing  eyes  with  such  an  eloquent  appeal  to  his 
mistress,  as  if  he  would  have  spoken  to  her.  Some- 
times he  pricked  his  ears  as  if  he  were  listening 
and  snuffed  joyously.  Perchance  he  expected  his 
master,  perhaps  he  wanted  to  lick  his  hands  for 
the  last  time.  Poor  beast,  how  I  pitied  him!  'He 
will  die,'  I  whispered  to  Mariora.  I  durst  not  say 
it  aloud  for  I  imagined  the  beast  understood 
everything  which  men  say  to  one  another.  'And 
then  will  come  the  tempter,  who  knows  that  you 
are  alone  and  defenceless.'  I  told  her  everything 
which  your  ladyship  told  me,  and  the  woman 
trembled  like  an  aspen-leaf. 

"  'Where  is  Juon  Tare  encamping  now  ?'  I 
asked  Mariora. 

"  'Only  a  mile  from  here  in  the  Vale  Capra.' 

"Hem !  It  is  impossible  to  get  there  on  horse- 
back, but  I  can  reach  him  by  going  on  foot.  Mean- 
while you  lock  yourself  in,  put  out  the  fire,  and 
whatever  noise  you  hear,  do  not  open  the  door  till 
we  come  back. 

"  'Nay,'  said  Mariora,  'you  must  not  go  away. 
If  Juon  ought  to  come  home,  there  is  a  sign  be- 
tween us,  I  have  here  an  Alpine  horn;  he  has 
taught  me  how  to  blow  upon  it,  and  has  told  me 
that  if  ever  I  should  be  in  great  danger  I  must 


198  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

blow  it,  and  however  distant  he  may  be,  he  will 
hear  it  and  hasten  home.' 

"  'But  it  is  night  now;  perhaps  he  is  asleep.' 

"  'Juon  never  sleeps  at  night,  he  must  be  awake 
and  protect  his  herds.' 

"  'And  what  then  will  become  of  his  goats  if  he 
leaves  them  ?' 

"  'Are  not  I  and  my  child  dearer  to  him  than  all 
his  property  ?' 

"Then  I  told  Mariora  that  no  time  must  be  lost, 
and  that  she  should  blow  the  horn  at  once.  It  is  a 
long  tube  made  out  of  the  bark  of  trees,  with  the 
end  tilted  upwards,  and  anyone  who  knows  how 
to  blow  it  can  make  its  voice  heard  for  miles. 
Mariora  was  too  feeble  with  it.  Perhaps  at 
another  time  she  would  have  been  more  up  to 
it,  but  now  she  was  upset,  there  was  something 
which  weighed  down  her  bosom  and  ham- 
pered her  breathing:  the  horn  gave  forth  but  a 
feeble  and  uncertain  sound.  We  listened  for  the 
echoes  and  they  scarce  resounded  from  the  sides 
of  the  adjacent  hills.  Juon  would  never  hear 
that.  'Give  it  to  me,'  I  said.  'I  shall  throw 
more  force  into  it.'  A  moment  after  I  had 
blown  the  horn,  the  woody  heights  repeated 
the  sound  just  as  if  there  was  another  horn- 
blower  there.  Presently,  from  afar,  right  away 
among  the  hills,  another  horn  replied,  just  as  if 
there  was  another  echo  there.  That  was  Juon's 
answer.  He  had  heard  the  summons;  we  could 
now  rest  content.   In  half  an  hour  he  would  have 


TWO  TALES  199 

bounded  across  the  mountains  and  through  the 
glens  and  would  be  here.  In  the  meantime  we 
would  barricade  ourselves  inside  the  hut.  Mariora 
»  anxiously  asked  me  what  we  should  do  if  her  hus- 
band were  the  last  to  arrive,  for  the  robber  had 
firearms.  Acting  on  my  advice,  we  closed  the  door 
with  a  heavy  beam  and  put  out  the  fire.  The  child 
began  to  cry,  but  Mariora  took  it  in  her  arms  and 
soothed  it  to  sleep.  A  heavy  groan  sounded  from 
a  corner  of  the  room :  it  was  the  faithful  beast 
breathing  forth  his  last  breath.  We  exchanged  not 
another  word  in  order  not  to  betray  the  fact  that 
Mariora  was  not  alone.  Half  an  hour  had  nearly 
elapsed  when  we  heard  footsteps  in  the  distance 
approaching.  We  listened.  Who  was  coming? 
Which  of  us  would  recognize  those  footsteps  first  ? 
I  did.  It  was  he !  he  for  whose  sake  I  had  brought 
down  a  curse  upon  my  head. 

"For  about  as.  long  a  time  as  it  would  take  one 
to  repeat  a  Paternoster,  he  remained  standing 
there  before  the  door.  Then  he  rapped  lightly 
with  his  fingers  and  I  heard  the  voice  I  knew  so 
well :  'Mariora,  are  you  asleep?' 

"  'I  am  awake.  What  do  you  want?'  she  re- 
plied. 

"  'Let  me  in,  Mariora ;  open  the  door !' 

"I  whispered  to  her  what  she  should  say. 

"  T  cannot,  my  husband  is  not  at  home.  I  am 
alone.' 

"  Tor  that  very  reason  open,  so  that  we  two 
may  have  it  all  to  ourselves  ?' 


200  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

''  There  will  be  three  of  us,  don't  forget  Ursu.' 

"  'It  is  all  up  with  Ursu/  laughed  the  robber 
outside. 

"  'You  have  killed  him,  you  villain !'  cried  Mari- 
éra though  I  never  whispered  this  to  her. 

"  'Not  I,  but  the  honey-cake.' 

"'Why  did  you  do  so?' 

"  'Because  he  was  in  my  way.' 

"  'Who  will  defend  me  now  ?' 

"  'I  will  defend  you.  I  will  take  you  away  with 
me.  I  will  take  you  to  a  beautiful  city  full  of  pal- 
aces. I  will  buy  you  a  house  and  an  estate  and  you 
shall  be  a  great  lady.' 

"'  'It  cannot  be.  I  already  have  my  lawful  hus- 
band and  you  too  have  your  lawful  wife.' 

"  'Your  lawful  husband  shall  die  when  I  choose, 
and  you  will  then  be  a  widow.  As  for  Anicza,  she 
only  married  a  mask.  I  will  tear  it  off  and  she  will 
no  longer  know  who  I  was.' 

"Oh,  my  lady,  can  you  not  fancy  how  my  heart 
broke  at  these  words !  Yet  I  did  not  weep. 

"  'You  will  deceive  me  as  you  deceived  her,'  re- 
plied Mariora, 

"Then  the  robber  began  to  swear  that  I  had  de- 
ceived him  first.  He  lied  concerning  me,  oh !  the 
accursed  wretch!  Yet  the  game  had  to  go  on. 
Mariora  was  no  longer  the  mistress  of  her  own 
thoughts.  She  is  a  helpless  creature.  If  I  had  not 
whispered  in  her  ear  what  she  was  to  say,  she 
would  have  had  no  answer  ready  for  him. 

'*  'I  fear  you,'  she  said  at  my  prompting,  'for 


TWO  TALES  20I 

you  are  a  robber ;  it  is  not  love  but  money  that  you 
want.  Why  did  it  not  occur  to  you  to  court  me 
before?  You  have  only  come  now  because  you 
have  found  out  that  my  father  has  been  here  and 
offered  me  a  hundred  ducats  that  we  may  buy  a 
little  estate  with  it.  You  have  only  come  here  to 
rob  me  of  that.' 

"The  tempter  grew  furious  at  so  much  gainsay- 
ing. 

"  'Stupid  wench  !'  he  cried,  'what  are  your  hun- 
dred ducats  to  me?  I  will  give  you  ten  times  as 
much.  Here  I  take  them !'  And  with  that  he 
pitched  through  the  little  window — opening 
above  the  door  a  heavy  purse  which  fell  rattling 
at  our  feet.  It  was  full  of  ducats.  I  kicked  it  aside 
with  loathing. 

"  'It  is  easy  to  talk,'  replied  Mariora.  'Now,  you 
give  and  give,  but  if  I  were  to  let  you  in,  you 
would  take  them  back  again  to-morrow  with  my 
own.' 

"  'I  swear  I  will  not.' 

"  'No,  I  will  not  believe  the  oaths  of  a  robber. 
You  have  firearms  and  I  am  therefore  defenceless 
against  you.  Go  and  hang  up  your  musket,  your 
pistols,  and  your  hunting-knife  on  that  beech-tree, 
which  is  a  hundred  paces  distant  from  the  house ; 
when  you  come  back  without  your  firearms  I  will 
believe  that  you  do  not  want  to  kill  me  and  will 
listen  to  what  you  have  to  say  ?' 

"The  robber  fell  into  the  snare  and  did  as  he 


202  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

was  bid.  Then  he  returned.  'Here  I  am  without 
weapons,'  said  he.   'Let  me  in !' 

"We  had  to  gain  as  much  time  as  possible,  so  I 
whispered  Mariora  to  say  that  she  must  first  stir 
up  the  fire  into  a  blaze  for  she  could  not  let  him  in 
in  the  dark. 

"These  words  inflamed  the  passion  of  the 
tempter  still  more. 

"  'You  will  have  time  for  that  afterwards,'  said 
he.  'I  can  see  your  beautiful  eyes  even  in  the  dark, 
for  then  they  shine  all  the  more  brightly.' 

"  'Then  I  suppose  I  have  eyes  like  a  cat  ?'  I  made 
Mariora  say. 

"  'Silly  fool!'  growled  the  tempter  to  himself  in 
Hungarian,  which  Mariora  did  not  understand. 
'No,'  he  then  added  in  Roumanian,  'you  have  eyes 
like  stars.' 

"  'But  confess  now,  do  you  really  love  me?  Or 
do  you  only  come  hither  with  evil  designs?  Don't 
you  want,  now,  to  cut  off  the  hands  of  my  little 
child?  for  robbers  covet  the  hacked  off  hands  of 
babies, — they  make  them  invisible.' 

"At  this  the  man's  temper  fairly  gave  way.  He 
pei'ceived  that  he  was  being  trifled  with  and  ex- 
claimed roughly :  'Woman,  open  the  door,  or  I'll 
bring  it  down  about  your  ears !'  And  he  gave  the 
door  such  a  blow  with  his  clenched  fist  that  it 
cracked  from  end  to  end.  'I  tell  you  for  the  last 
time,'  cried  he,  'let  me  in  peaceably.  If  you  will 
come  with  me,  I  will  take  you,  and  your  child  also, 
to  a  pleasant  place.    I  will  make  a  gentleman  of 


TWO  TALES  203 

him  and  a  lady  of  you.  But  if  you  gainsay  me  an- 
other moment,  I'll  batter  in  the  door,  dash  the 
brains  of  your  brat  out  against  the  wall  and  carry 
you  off  by  force  wherever  I  please.' 

"Thereupon  Mariora  paid  no  more  attention  to 
me  but  began  wringing  her  hands  and  I  snatched 
up  the  child,  who  had  been  awakened  by  the  noise 
and  begun  to  cry.  I  drew  my  pistol  from  my 
bosom  and  planted  myself  beside  the  door.  If 
there's  nobody  else,  I  thought,  I  must  bear  the 
brunt  of  it. 

"The  robber  planted  his  shoulder  against  the 
door  and  pressed  it  inwards  with  tremendous 
force.  The  boards  cracked  and  as  the  middle  of 
the  door  was  barricaded  by  a  stout  beam,  there 
was  soon  a  regular  gap  between  the  two  folds  of 
the  door  and  the  door  inclined  more  and  more  in- 
wards. Through  the  opening  thus  made.  I  held 
the  pistol,  pointed  straight  at  his  temples  and  only 
an  inch  away  from  him.  He  is  a  very  strong  man, 
I  thought,  but  another  effort  of  strength  and  he 
will  be  lying  dead  at  my  feet." 

The  girl  was  quite  overcome  by  the  narration 
of  this  scene.  She  paused  for  a  moment  to  recover 
herself,  during  which  Henrietta,  as  pale  as  a 
statue,  gazed  at  her  in  silence. 

Presently  she  resumed : 

"At  that  critical  moment,  a  cry  like  the  howl  of 
a  wild  beast  resounded  in  front  of  the  hut.  The 
door  fell  back  into  its  proper  place  and  rushing  to 


204  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

the  little  window,  I  saw  that  two  men  now  stood 
in  front  of  the  hut. 

"Juon  Tare  had  arrived  at  last! 

*Tt  was  neither  speech  nor  language  that  he  ad- 
dressed to  his  antagonist  in  the  first  instant  of 
their  encounter,  it  was  the  savage  roar  of  a  wild 
beast  rushing  upon  its  prey. 

"Juon  Tare  is  a  very  strong  man.  Fortunately, 
he  is  also  a  peaceful,  retiring  creature,  for  if  he 
were  as  passionate  as  he  is  strong  and  frequented 
the  wine  shops,  every  carouse  would  end  with  the 
death  of  a  man.  All  the  more  horrible  was  it 
therefore  to  behold  him  at  that  moment  like  a 
ravening  beast  of  prey. 

"The  detected  seducer  at  once  made  a  rush  for 
his  arms,  but  Juon  Tare  overtook  him  with  an 
enormous  bound  and  seized  one  of  his  hands.  If 
Fatia  Negra  had  been  one  of  God's  ordinary  crea- 
tures, he  must  have  been  writhing  the  next  mo- 
ment with  crushed  limbs  on  the  ground  beneath 
Juon's  knee ;  but  at  the  very  instant  in  which  Juon 
caught  hold  of  one  hand,  the  robber  faced  about 
and  seizing  the  herdsman  round  the  body  began 
to  wrestle  with  him. 

"The  moon  flooded  the  valley  with  its  light ;  the 
whole  course  of  the  struggle  was  plainly  visible. 

"As  soon  as  Juon  Tare  perceived  that  his  an- 
tagonist was  foolhardy  enough  to  try  a  fall  with 
him,  he  complacently  allowed  his  body  to  be  en- 
circled and  calmly  murmured :   'Ho,  ho !  then  you 


I 


TWO  TALES  205 

would  wrestle  with  me,  eh,  Fatia  Negra!  Very 
well,  be  it  so !' 

"Then  he  also  quietly  encircled  the  trunk  of  his 
opponent  with  those  terrible  arms  of  his,  which 
had  shown  themselves  capable  on  one  occasion  of 
throttling  a  bear,  and  prepared  to  crush  his  adver- 
sary. 

"And  thus  began  an  awful  struggle,  the  mere 
remembrance  of  which  is  a  horror. 

"There  is  nothing  more  terrible  than  when  two 
men  struggle  for  life  or  death  with  their  bare 
hands. 

"Juon  Tare's  tremendous  strength  was  unable 
to  crush  Fatia  Negra.  The  herdsman  might  per- 
haps have  been  a  little  exhausted  by  his  swift  run, 
but  the  robber  was  skilful  and  opposed  a  steel- 
like elasticity  to  the  herdsman's  massive  weight. 

"Now  the  one,  now  the  other  was  forced  down 
upon  his  knee,  only  to  bound  instantly  back  again. 
The  grass  was  rooted  up  by  their  stamping  feet. 
Tightly  embraced,  with  straining  shoulders,  with 
their  fists  tearing  at  each  other's  bodies,  their  faces 
were  pressed  so  closely  together  that  the  two  heads 
seemed  but  one. 

"Now  and  then  they  would  pause  for  an  instant 
to  take  breath  and  at  such  times  would  gasp  out 
short,  fierce  words. 

"  'Who  are  you  ?'  growled  Juon.  'Who  are  you 
that  you  can  resist  the  arm  of  Juon  Tare?  Who 
are  you  that  Juon  Tare  cannot  put  to  silence  ?' 

"  'What  is  it  you  want,  you  fool  ?'  the  robber 


206  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

gasped  back.  'Has  that  two  hundred  ducats,  the 
price  set  on  my  head,  tempted  you?  Is  that  why 
you  want  to  catch  me  ?  Let  me  go,  and  I  will  give 
you  five  hundred.' 

*'  'I  will  not  let  you  go.  I  want  neither  your 
money,  nor  yet  the  money  of  the  magistrates. 
Your  destruction  is  all  that  I  want.  You  should 
not  escape  from  these  hands  if  you  were  thrice  a 
devil' 

"  'We  will  see.' 

"And  again  the  tussle  began.  Each  of  the  two 
men  put  forth  all  his  strength  against  his  adver- 
sary. Fatia  Negra's  garments  split  into  rags,  the 
blood  spouted  from  his  shoulders  where  Juon  had 
worried  him  with  his  sharp  teeth  like  a  wild 
beast.  Not  another  word  did  they  now  speak,  only 
their  panting  sobs  were  to  be  heard  like  the  snort- 
ing of  two  wild  boars  as  they  dragged  and  dashedl 
each  other  up  and  down  on  the  sward. 

"I  was  obliged  to  restrain  Mariora  violently 
from  rushing  to  her  husband's  assistance.  She 
would  only  have  distracted  his  attention.  And  be- 
sides I  would  not  have  it  so.  Let  the  men  fight  it 
out,  I  thought.  They  are  a  well  matched  pair." 

"Then  you  still  love  Fatia  Negra?"  enquired 
Henrietta  sadly. 

The  girl  blushed.  — "I  love  him,  yes, — and 
therefore  he  must  die." 

She  went  on : 

"At  that  moment  he  was  like  a  magician  bat- 
tling with  a  giant.     The  other  was  half  a  head 


TWO  TALES  207 

taller  than  he,  and  the  muscles  of  his  arms  stood 
out  like  the  rugged  bark  of  an  oak's  trunk.  Black 
Mask  was  much  the  slimmer.  But  every  muscle  in 
his  frame  seemed  made  of  steel.  His  gigantic  ad- 
versary might  pitch  and  toss  him  wherever  he 
pleased,  he  always  fell  on  his  feet;  nor  was  the 
other  ever  able,  squeeze  as  he  might,  to  disjoint 
his  arms  or  free  his  own  head  from  Fatia  Negra's 
embrace,  though  again  and  again  he  ducked  down 
to  do  it;  and  then  they  would  struggle  more 
fiercely  than  ever,  on  their  knees,  with  their  limbs 
interlaced  like  one  single,  inseparable  quivering 
mass  of  flesh. 

"  'If  I  could  only  see  your  hidden  face !'  roared 
Juon,  throwing  himself  with  all  his  might  on 
Black  Mask.  'You  devil,  you,  I'll  tear  your  mum- 
mery off  for  you!' — and  he  gnashed  at  his  op- 
ponent's face  with  his  teeth,  trying  to  snap  his 
mask  off. 

"This  attempt  seemed  to  redouble  Fatia  Negra's 
fury.  He  too  now  began  roaring  like  a  wounded 
bear,  struggling  with  a  huntsman.  It  was  no 
longer  a  struggle  between  men,  but  a  ravening  of 
two  beasts.  The  combatants  had  now  rolled  far 
away  from  the  hut.  Their  savage  yells  resounded 
through  the  still  pastures.  We,  watching  them 
from  the  hut,  could  see  that  they  were  drawing 
near  the  edge  of  a  steep  abyss  with  a  sheer  descent 
of  many  fathoms,  at  the  bottom  of  which  are  the 
sources  of  the  little  mountain  streams. 

"  'Take  care,  Juon !'  cried  Mariora  despairingly. 


2o8  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

But  her  voice  was  unheard.  Both  of  them  were 
deaf  and  bhnd.  The  next  moment  Juon  gave  his 
adversary  a  fierce  shake  and  instantly  the  pair  of 
them  plunged  head  over  heels  into  the  gulf  below. 

"We  both  rushed  after  them,  and  on  reaching 
the  edge  of  the  abyss  perceived  one  shape  lying 
motionless  among  the  rocks  of  the  stream,  and  an- 
other limping  painfully  towards  the  further  shore. 
This  second  figure  was  Fatia  Negra." 

"Surely  Juon  was  not  dead?"  cried  Henrietta, 
horrified. 

"No ;  only  crippled  by  the  fall.  He  fell  under- 
most, the  other  on  top.  Yet  the  other  must  have 
suffered  severely.  We  could  see  from  his  heavy 
movements  that  he  had  more  than  one  limb 
damaged.  Only  with  the  utmost  exertion  did  he 
manage  to  scale  the  opposite  cliff. 

"While  he  was  clambering  up  the  mountain- 
side, Mariora  sobbing  and  screaming,  rushed 
down  to  her  insensible  husband,  and  taking  his 
head  into  her  bosom  dragged  his  limp  body  out  of 
the  cold  water  of  the  brook,  whilst  I  took  down 
from  the  beech-tree  Fatia  Negra's  double-bar- 
relled musket  and  raised  it  to  my  cheek.  Before  me 
on  the  white  rock,  in  the  full  light  of  the  moon,  a 
good  mark  for  a  marksman  was  that  panting  black 
object  struggling  upwards.  I  pointed  the  barrel 
straight  at  him.  I  took  a  long  and  careful  aim.  I 
am  certain  I  should  have  hit  him.  And  then  I  be- 
thought me  how  much  I  had  loved  him  once  upon 


11 


TWO  TALES  209 

a  time,  and  the  weapon  sank  down.  I  flung  it 
from  me." 

The  girl  ceased  to  speak  and  covered  her  face 
with  both  her  hands.  It  was  a  long  time  before  she 
took  them  away  again. 

At  last  she  sprang  up  quickly,  and  turning  her 
pale  face  towards  Henrietta,  said  in  a  hard,  dry 
voice :  "It  will  be  the  last  time,  your  ladyship.  I  am 
weak  because  I  am  a  woman,  folks  would  say. 
But  they  shall  know  that  that  is  not  true.  Don't 
be  afraid,  my  lady;  what  I  have  promised,  that 
will  I  do.  You  have  been  very  good  to  me  in 
telling  me  that  I  was  being  deceived,  and  I  will 
requite  you  for  it.  And  now,  God  bless  you,  my 
lady.  Farewell!" 

"But  surely  you  are  not  thinking  of  going  home 
so  late  at  night?" 

"What  care  I  about  the  night?  No  spectre  can 
meet  me  anywhere  that  is  worse  than  the  horrible 
thing  that  dwells  at  the  bottom  of  my  heart.  God 
bless  your  ladyship.  You  shall  hear  from  me  soon. 
Farewell !" 

Then  the  girl  gently  kissed  Henrietta's  hand 
and  left  the  room,  throwing  into  her  gait  and  bear- 
ing an  energy  and  a  self-confidence  which  she  was 
far  from  feeling. 


CHAPTER  XII 

THE  SOIREES  AT  ARAD 

Despite  his  misgivings,  Count  Kengyelesy  suc- 
ceeded in  reaching  his  home  at  Arad  without 
being  robbed  by  Fatia  Negra. 

During  the  evenings  of  his  visit  at  Hidvár  he 
had  won  back  everything  which  lie  had  lost  on  the 
occasion  of  his  friend  Hátszegi's  visit  at  Keng- 
yelesy, and  in  the  joy  of  his  heart  he  gave  his 
countess  carte  blanche  in  the  matter  of  entertain- 
ing her  friends  and  opened  his  halls  freely  to  the 
elegant  world  of  Arad. 

For  the  society  of  Arad  is  distinctly  elegant. 
Excepting  Pest,  there  is  no  other  place  in  Hun- 
gary where  the  aristocratic  element  is  so  strongly 
represented.  Nay,  it  has  this  advantage  over  Pest 
that  its  society  does  not  scatter  as  the  seasons 
change.  Such  pleasure-resorts  as  Csákó,  Ménes, 
Magyarát  and  Világos  and  the  castles  of  the  mag- 
nates residing  on  the  circumjacent  puszta  are  all 
of  a  heap,  so  to  speak,  around  Arad ;  so  that  there 
is  no  occasion  for  acquaintances  to  separate  in 
spring  or  autumn;  wherefore  to  all  those  who 
would  devote  themselves  uninterruptedly  to  social 
joys,  Arad  is  a  veritable  Eldorado. 

There  was  no  need  to  offer  the  Countess  Keng- 
yelesy such  an  opportunity  twice, — the  very  next 


THE  SOIREES  AT  ARAD  21 1 

day  the  round  of  visiting  began.  All  the  notabili- 
ties of  the  higher  circles  got  themselves  introduced 
to  her  ladyship  by  mutual  friends,  and  the  lesser 
fry,  whom  nobody  knew,  were  introduced  to  her 
by  the  count  himself.  Amongst  those  who  came 
from  afar  was  a  young  man  from  Pest  who  had 
an  official  post  in  the  county,  a  rare  distinction  in 
those  days,  who  was  much  praised  for  his  culture 
and  who  had  spoken  once  or  twice  very  sensibly 
at  Quarter  Sessions, — a  certain  Szilárd  Vamhidy. 
But  what  interested  the  ladies  in  the  young  man 
far  more  than  his  official  orations  was  the  rumour 
connecting  his  name  with  a  romantic  attachment 
he  was  said  to  have  had  with  the  daughter  of  a 
wealthy  merchant  of  Pest.  The  young  man,  being 
disappointed  in  his  love,  had  resolved  to  kill  him- 
self, and  had  persuaded  the  girl  to  do  likewise  at 
the  same  time.  Only  with  difficulty  had  they  been 
snatched  from  the  threshold  of  death.  Subse- 
quently, on  account  of  this  very  thing,  the  girl  had 
been  compelled  to  become  the  wife  of  the  wealthy 
Hátszegi. 

The  countess  quickly  made  up  her  mind  that 
such  a  young  man  as  this  was  an  indispensable  ac- 
quaintance. What !  Henrietta's  ideal,  with  whom 
she  had  been  in  love  and  who  would  have  gladly 
embraced  death  with  her !  Here  indeed  was  a  rare 
species,  especially  in  these  modern  days,  which  de- 
served to  be  exhibited ;  and  she  gave  her  husband 
no  rest  till  he  had  promised  to  introduce  the  young 
man  to  her.    To  this  end  it  was  necessary  that  he 


212  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

should  first  of  all  make  the  young  man's  acquaint- 
ance himself,  but  this  was  an  easy  matter.  The 
deputy  Lord-lieutenant  of  the  county  knew  them 
both  and  at  his  house  they  learnt  to  know  each 
other.  And  Count  Kengyelesy  was  one  of  those 
men  whom  it  is  impossible  to  avoid  when  once  you 
have  made  his  acquaintance.  It  was  not  very  long, 
therefore,  before  he  took  his  new  friend,  abso- 
lutely under  his  protection  and  hauled  him  oif  to 
his  wife. 

The  usual  stiffness  of  a  first  introduction  was 
speedily  broken  down  by  the  quaint  conceits  of  the 
count. 

The  countess  had  donned  a  flowing  antique 
moire  dress  and  wore  her  hair  in  long  English 
curls  to  match. 

"Come  now,  friend  Szilárd!"  cried  the  count, 
"what  do  you  say?  this  dress  and  that  coiffure 
hardly  suit  the  countess's  style  of  face — eh?" 

Many  a  worthy  young  man  would  have  been 
plunged  into  confusion  by  such  a  silly  question, 
but  our  Szilard's  eternally  composed  countenance 
was  not  ruffled  for  an  instant. 

"Everything  becomes  the  countess,"  he  replied ; 
"but  I  know  of  something  which  is  still  more 
charming  and  would  make  any  fair  woman  still 
more  beautiful." 

"Really !  You  make  me  quite  curious,"  said  the 
countess. 

"Why,  Szilárd,  you  a  connoisseur! — you  sur- 
prise me !"  cried  the  count. 


THE  SOIREES  AT  ARAD  213 

"I  mean  those  blue  stuff  gowns  with  white 
spots,  which  lend  quite  a  peculiar  charm  to  our 
women,  especially  if  you  set  it  off  with  an  old- 
fashioní7cí  csipkeköto."^ 

At  the  very  next  soiree  the  Countess  Kengye- 
lesy  was  attired  in  one  of  these  blue  stuff  gowns 
with  white  spots,  of  home  manufacture,  and  with 
a  black  lace  head-dress — exactly  as  Szilárd  had 
described  it  to  her. 

"My  dear  friend,  be  so  good  as  to  look  there !" 
said  the  count  appropriating  Szilárd  while  he  was 
still  only  half  through  the  doorway.  "There  she 
is  costumed  from  head  to  foot  exactly  as  you  ad- 
vised. Ah!  I  pity  you.  You  are  already  in  the 
toils." 

Szilárd  hastened  at  once  to  greet  the  countess, 
who  treated  the  handsome  young  fellow  with 
marked  distinction  all  through  the  evening.  In- 
deed she  made  no  secret  of  it. 

Three  days  later  Szilárd  was  bound  by  custom 
to  pay  a  complimentary  visit  upon  the  Countess. 
He  purposely  chose  an  hour  when  he  knew  she 
would  not  be  at  home,  and  left  his  card,  but  the 
same  evening  he  encountered  her  at  the  theatre.  It 
was  in  the  entrance  hall,  where  she  was  waiting 
for  her  carriage,  and  till  it  drove  up  Szilárd  could 
not  very  well  leave  her. 

"Ah,  ah !  my  honoured  friend,"  cried  the 
countess  archív,  "this  won't  do.     You  wait  till  I 


*  A  Hungarian  headdress  made  of  black  lace.  The  dress  sug- 
gested was  also  of  native  Hung-arian  manufacture  worn  at  one  time 
by  the  greatest  ladies. 


214  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

am  not  at  home,  and  then  you  go  and  leave  your 
card  upon  me  as  a  token  of  respect.  But  I  don't 
mean  to  let  you  off  so  easily.  I  have  got  a  lot  to 
say  to  you  which  I  am  determined  you  shall  listen 
to.  You  must  therefore  promise  to  come  to  my 
house  at  twelve  o'clock  to-morrow,  or  else  I  shall 
astonish  the  world  by  inviting  you  to  come  along 
with  me  this  instant  in  my  carriage." 

A  man,  in  another  mood,  could  scarcely  have  re- 
sisted the  temptation  of  replying  that  he  would  be 
delighted  if  the  countess  put  her  threat  into  exe- 
cution then  and  there,  even  at  the  risk  of  astonish- 
ing the  world.  Szilárd  merely  looked  grave  and 
said  that  he  would  be  happy  to  pay  his  respects  to 
the  countess  at  twelve  on  the  morrow. 

He  went  accordingly.  His  pulses  beat  no  more 
quickly  than  usual  as  he  entered  the  countess's 
private  appartment,  although  she  gave  the  foot- 
man to  understand  in  a  low  voice  that  she  would 
be  at  home  to  nobody  else,  and  invited  the  young 
man  to  sit  down  close  beside  her,  face  to  face. 

The  countess  was  a  beautiful  woman,  and  she 
possessed  the  art  of  dressing  beautifully  likewise. 
The  countess  had  beautiful  eyes  and  she  could 
smile  beautifully  with  them,  too.  The  countess 
had  an  extremely  pretty  mouth,  and  when  she 
spoke  it  was  prettier  still,  for  she  had  a  witty  way 
with  her.  The  danger  of  the  situation  was  very 
appreciable. 

"My  dear,  good  Szilárd,"  began  the  countess, 
with  that  light,  natural  naivete  which  so  easily 


THE  SOIREES  AT  ARAD  215 

disarms  the  strongest  of  us,  "do  not  take  it  ill  of 
me  if  I  speak  to  you  confidentially.  The  world  will 
very  soon  be  saying  that  you  are  in  love  with  me 
and  I  with  you.  I  shall  not  believe  the  former  and 
you  will  not  believe  the  latter.  Let  the  world  say 
what  it  likes.  I  have  a  real  blessing  of  a  husband, 
whom  it  would  be  a  shame  to  offend,  and  you  have 
quite  other  ideas.  I  know  what  they  are.  Don't  be 
angry,  don't  frown!  I  am  not  exacting.  I  don't 
want  to  fetch  you  away  from  other  people.  I  will 
not  ask  where  you  have  buried  your  treasures.  I 
will  merely  say  to  you  that  I  know  you  have  treas- 
ures and  that  they  are  buried.  Is  it  not  so  ?  You 
need  not  be  afraid  of  me." 

Szilárd  was  a  little  taken  aback  by  this  unex- 
pected turn.  Could  it  be  sheer  curiosity,  he 
thought  ? 

"I  have  nothing  to  be  afraid  of,  countess,"  re- 
marked Szilárd,  smiling,  "I  have  no  buried  secrets. 
I  was  a  young  man  once,  that  is  all.  I  have  had  my 
foolish  illusions,  like  other  people,  and  like  other 
people  I  have  cured  myself  of  them." 

"Nay,  nay,  sir,  now  you  are  not  quite  sticking 
to  the  truth ;  you  are  not  cured  of  them.  But  be- 
fore I  go  any  further  let  me  tell  you  that  all  this  is 
not  mere  feminine  curiosity  on  my  part.  I  want 
you  to  trust  me  and  I  will  trust  you  equally.  Be- 
lieve me  when  I  say  that  if  I  love  to  make  fun  of 
empty-headed  noodles,  I  can  always  respect  a  good 
heart  because  it  is  a  rarity.    The  lady  I  want  to 


2l6  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

speak  to  you  about  is  my  dear  friend  and  she  is 
very,  very  unhappy." 

Szilárd  was  bound  to  beheve  that  this  was  true, 
for  tear-drops  sparkled  in  the  countess's  eyes. 

''Is  it  my  fault?"  he  asked  bitterly. 

"It  is  neither  your  fault  nor  her's.  I  know  that 
as  a  fact.  The  cause  of  it  all  is  money,  the  thirst 
for  money.  There  is  not  a  more  miserable  creature 
in  the  wide  world  than  the  daughter  of  a  rich  man. 
But  that  is  the  least  of  her  misfortunes.  They  mar- 
ried her  to  a  man  who  did  not  love  her,  who  only 
took  her  because  her  grandfather  was  a  million- 
aire. Her  grandfather  frightened  her  into  the 
match  by  threatening  her  with  his  curse  and  now, 
when  she  has  become  the  wife  of  this  man  who 
does  not  even  feel  friendship  for  her,  I  hear  that 
this  same  old  grandfather  has  made  another  will 
depriving  her  of  everything." 

Szilard's  lips  trembled  at  these  words. 

"You  can  imagine  what  will  be  the  result.  This 
young  woman  loves  not  and  is  not  loved.  They 
gave  her  away  to  an  Oriental  nabob  who,  imagin- 
ing his  wife  to  be  wealthy,  scatters  his  money  like 
a  prince.  And  now  this  man  has  suddenly  been 
startled  by  the  report  that  his  wife  has  absolutely 
nothing! — do  you  know  the  meaning  of  the  ex- 
pression: bread  of  charity?" 

"I  have  heard  the  expression,  but  the  bread 
itself  I  have  never  tasted." 

"Then  you  can  have  no  idea  what  that  sort  of 
bread  is  like  which  a  man  gives  to  the  wife  whom 


THE  SOIREES  AT  ARAD  217 

he  finds  to  be  poor,  when  he  fancied  her  to  be  rich 
— oh !  that  sort  of  bread  is  very,  very  bitter !" 

Ah!  thought  Szilárd,  the  bread  that  /  offered 
her  was  only  dry — not  bitter. 

'T  can  tell  you  on  very  good  authority,"  re- 
sumed the  countess,  "that  the  baron's  conduct 
towards  his  wife  has  completely  changed  since  he 
discovered  that  she  has  been  disinherited.  He  had 
lost  heavily  at  cards  when  the  news  first  reached 
him,  and  he  took  no  pains  to  conceal  his  ill-hu- 
mour from  his  wife  in  consequence.  The  poor  of 
the  district  had  got  to  regard  Henrietta  as  their 
ministering  angel  because  of  her  labours  of  love 
among  them,  but  now  she  can  play  the  part  of 
lady  bountiful  no  longer.  She  has  to  shut  her  door 
in  the  faces  of  her  poor  petitioners,  for  her  hus- 
band will  not  allow  any  unnecessary  expense.  Nay, 
more,  they  say  that  Hátszegi  now  keeps  his  wife's 
private  jewels  under  lock  and  key  to  prevent  her 
from  pawning  them  and  relieving  the  needs  of  the 
poor  with  the  proceeds,  as  she  was  wont  to  do,  and 
only  brings  them  out  on  state  occasions  when  he 
compels  her  to  pile  them  all  on  her  person.  Isn't 
that  a  humiliation  for  a  woman  ?" 

"If  only  you  had  become  mine,"  Szilárd 
mentally  apostrophized  poor  Henrietta,  "you 
would  now  have  had  a  cosey  little  chimney-corner, 
and  a  nice  little  room  ail  to  yourself ;  and  though  I 
could  not  have  bought  you  jewels,  the  best  of 
every  morsel  of  food  we  shared  together  would  al- 
ways have  been  yours." 


2l8  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

"And,"  pursued  the  countess,  "most  degrading 
experience  of  all,  Hátszegi  no  longer  attempts  to 
conceal  from  his  wife  his  outrageous  liaisons  with 
pretty  peasant  women.    The  thing  has  long  been 
a  byeword,  though  his  wife  knew  nothing  of  it — 
but  she  knows  it  now.    Nor  is  this  all,  my  dear 
Vámhidy.     Poor   Henrietta's   heart   is   suffering 
from  another  sorrow  which  she  feels  all  the  more 
keenly  because  it  smarts  unceasingly.   Her  young 
brother,  Koloman,  has  suddenly  disappeared  from 
Pest  and  left  no  trace  behind  him.    They  say  all 
sorts  of  things  about  him,  which  I  do  not  care 
about  telling  you,   but  most   of   them   are   bad 
enough.     On  the  news  reaching  Henrietta,  she 
asked  her  husband  to  make  enquiries  as  to  the 
cause    of    Koloman's    disappearance.      Hátszegi 
wrote  to  his  agent  and  received  an  answer  which 
he  will  not  show  to  Henrietta  on  any  considera- 
tion; nay,  more,  he  commanded  his  wife  never  to 
mention  Koloman's  name  before  him  again.    The 
poor  woman  is  naturally  in  despair.     She  cannot 
conceive  why  the  cause  of  her  brother's  disap- 
pearance should  be  hidden  from  her.    And  now  I 
am  coming  to  the  end  and  aim  of  all  this  rigma- 
role.    Henrietta  believes,  and  I  am  likewise  con- 
vinced of  it,  that  if  her  brother  be  alive,  there  is 
only  one  person  in  the  world  whom  he  will  try 
and  seek  out  and  that  is  yourself." 

"Poor  lad !  he  loved  me  much,"  sighed  Szilárd. 

"And  now  you  understand  what  I  am  driving 
at,  don't  you  ?    If  anybody  can  find  out  the  where- 


j 


THE  SOIREES  AT  ARAD  219 

abouts  of  Henrietta's  brother  and  the  real  reason 
why  he  fled  from  his  relations  at  Pest  and  took 
refuge  neither  with  his  aunt,  Madame  Langai, 
who,  I  hear,  has  taken  his  part  all  through,  nor 
yet  with  his  sister,  it  is  most  certainly  you.  This 
is  no  lawyer's  business,  for  a  lawyer  would  set 
about  it  too  gingerly.  Here  sympathy  and  chivalry 
are  before  all  other  things  necessary,  and  if  the 
husband  declines  this  noble  task,  we  have  nobody 
to  turn  to  except — the  man  who  has  been  sacri- 
ficed." 

Szilárd  bit  his  lips  to  prevent  the  tears  from 
coming.  Who  could  ever  have  thought  that  so 
frivolous  a  woman  would  have  had  so  much  feel- 
ing for  her  friend?  Then  he  rose,  bowed  and 
curtly  informed  the  countess  that  he  would  un- 
dertake the  commission. 

The  countess  pressed  his  hand  aííectionately : 
"And  keep  me  informed  of  everything."  said  she, 
"for  I  am  the  common  post  between  you  two." 

Szilárd  thanked  the  countess  and  withdrew. 
He  pondered  the  matter  carefully  till  the  evening, 
and  by  that  time  he  had  a  plan  all  ready  in  his 
head. 

For  a  whole  week  after  this,  nothing  was  to  be 
seen  of  Vámhidy.  Count  Kengyelesy  sought  him 
everywhere  and  could  find  him  nowhere.  Every 
day  he  asked  his  countess  what  she  had  done  with 
the  young  man. 

Ten  days  after  the  first  soiree  the  date  for  an- 
other had  been  fixed.    Szilárd  did  not  appear  even 


220  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

at  this.  Kengyelesy  hunted  for  him  from  pillar  to 
post,  but  could  not  discover  what  had  become  of 
him.    Nobody  had  heard  anything  of  him. 

"He  has  poisoned  himself,"  said  Kengyelesy  at 
last  to  a  group  of  his  sporting  friends.  "It  is  quite 
plain  to  me.  When  a  fellow  has  got  that  sort  of 
thing  into  his  head  once,  he  will  try  it  again  and 
again.  I  wash  my  hands  of  the  business,  it  is  all 
the  fault  of  the  countess.  Why  does  she  play  her 
tricks  with  such  people?  No  doubt  he  has  swal- 
lowed poison  and  then  crawled  away  into  some 
nook  or  corner  of  a  forest.  In  a  month  or  two,  I 
suppose,  we  shall  come  upon  him  unexpectedly." 

"Whom  shall  we  come  upon  unexpectedly?" 
cried  a  voice  behind  his  back.  He  looked  around 
and  there  was  the  long  lost  Szilárd. 

"Oh,  there  you  are,  eh?  What  have  you  been 
doing  with  yourself  all  this  time?  Come  along 
with  me — and  Heaven  help  you ! — I  will  take  you 
to  my  wife.  Poor  young  chap!  I  thought  you 
had  already  had  enough  of  it  and  made  away  with 
yourself  in  consequence." 

Then  he  drew  his  arm  through  Szilard's  and 
tripped  off  to  the  countess.  "Here  he  is!"  he 
cried.  "We  have  found  him,  do  not  abandon 
yourself  to  despair  on  his  account.  Be  so  good  as 
to  sit  down  beside  him ! — here's  a  chair!  I'll  take 
care  nobody  disturbs  you!" 

The  countess  pressed  Szilard's  hand  and  made 
a  sign  to  him  to  remain. 

*T  have  just  arrived  from  Pest,"  said  Szilárd. 


THE  SOIREES  AT  ARAD  221 

"Really!    Well?" 

"I  have  found  out  everything,  or  rather,  I 
should  say,  a  good  deal." 

"Do  pray  tell  me  at  once.  All  the  people  are 
dancing,  they  will  take  no  notice  of  us." 

"Ever  since  old  Lapussa's  death,"  began  Szi- 
lárd, "for  he  died  soon  after  he  had  altered  his 
will,  all  the  members  of  his  family  have  been  at 
bitter  variance.  Madame  Langai,  the  old  man's 
widowed  daughter,  disputes  the  validity  of  the 
last  will — whereby  Mr.  John  Lapussa  becomes 
heir  to  the  exclusion  of  everybody  else,  and  has 
instituted  legal  proceedings  to  upset  it.  Madame 
Langai  seeks  to  prove  that  old  Lapussa  was  non 
compos  mentis  when  he  disinherited  the  other 
members  of  his  family,  and  she  also  maintains 
that  the  old  fellow  had  no  reason  whatever  for 
hating  his  grandchildren  and  reducing  them  to 
beggary  as  he  has  done.  On  the  other  hand,  Mr. 
John  maintains  that  his  dear  father  had  excellent 
reasons  for  detesting  his  grandchildren  because 
the  Baroness  Hátszegi  has  never  written  a  letter 
to  her  grandfather  since  her  marriage  and  both 
she  and  her  husband  have  expressed  themselves,, 
at  home,  in  the  most  disrespectful  terms  imagina- 
ble concerning  the  old  gentleman,  even  giving  it 
to  be  understood  that  they  would  be  very  glad  if 
they  had  not  to  wait  too  long  for  the  curtain  to 
fall  on  the  fifth  act  of  his  life's  drama.  He  calls  as 
his  witness  one  Margari,  who  was  formerly  old 
Lapussa's  reader  before  the  girl  was  married,  and 


222  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

since  then  has  been  compelled  to  act  as  secretary 
to  Hátszegi,  or  rather  as  a  spy  upon  him.  This 
fellow,  who  is  now  the  mere  tool  of  Mr.  John,  is 
quite  prepared  to  retail  all  sorts  of  horrors  about 
the  Hátszegis.  As  to  the  other  grandchild,  the 
boy  Koloman  I  mean,  his  uncle  has  saddled  him 
with  a  terrible  charge.  He  has  produced  a  bill  for 
40,000  florins  which  he  accuses  the  lad  of  forging 
in  the  name  of  his  sister,  the  Baroness  Hátszegi." 

"Ah!"  exclaimed  the  countess  in  an  incredu- 
lous voice. 

"The  thing  is  ridiculously  incredible,  I  know, 
yet  there  the  bill  is ;  I  have  seen  it,  for  it  has  been 
sequestered  by  the  Court.  It  is  obviously  in  the 
youth's  handwriting  as  also  is  the  very  bad  imita- 
tion of  his  sister's  signature.  In  connection  there- 
with is  the  fact  of  the  youth's  sudden  disappear- 
ance (and  every  attempt  to  trace  his  whereabouts 
has  failed),  for,  on  the  very  day  when  the  sub- 
ject of  the  bill  was  first  broached,  he  vanished 
from  his  college,  and  apparently  he  had  been  pre- 
paring for  flight  some  time  before." 

"But  what  could  have  induced  a  mere  child  to 
do  such  a  thing,  he  is  scarcely  thirteen  years  old  ?" 

"He  was  always  somewhat  flighty  by  nature, 
though  that,  of  course,  is  not  sufficient  to  explain 
how  he  came  to  forge  his  sister's  name  on  a  draft 
for  40,000  florins." 

"But  why  will  not  the  baron  tell  his  wife  all 
about  it?" 

"Does  not  your  ladyship  see  ? — It  is  quite  plain 


THE  SOIREES  AT  ARAD  223 

to  me.  Hátszegi  understands  his  wife  thoroughly. 
He  feels  certain  that  as  soon  as  the  baroness  hears 
of  what  her  brother  is  accused,  she  would  not 
hesitate  a  moment  to  acknowledge  the  forged  sig- 
nature as  really  her  own." 

"True,  true.     And  then  I  suppose  her  brother 
could  be  saved." 
"Completely." 

"And  then,  I  suppose,  she  would  have  to  pay 
the  money?" 

"Either  pay  it  or  be  sued  for  it." 
"Poor  woman !     I  know  she  has  no  money.     A 
most  awkward  position,  most  awkward.     But  it 
does  not  matter;   if  her  jewels  are  under  lock  and 
key,  nobody  guards  mine." 

At  these  words  which  came  straight  from  the 
best  of  hearts,  Szilárd  could  not  restrain  himself 
from  impressing  a  burning  kiss  on  the  countess's 
hand  so  affected  was  he  by  this  outburst  of  gener- 
osity. 

"Ah,  ha!"  cackled  the  count  behind  his  back, 
"so  we  have  got  as  far  as  that  already,  eh !  Capi- 
tal, capital,  upon  my  word !  Nay,  nay,  my  young 
friend,  don't  be  afraid  of  me.  Do  not  put  yourself 
out  in  the  least  on  my  account!  God  bless  you, 
my  boy  I" 

"To-morrow,  we'll  plan  it  all  out,  I'll  be  wait- 
ing for  you  at  one  o'clock,"  whispered  the  coun- 
tess to  Szilárd,  "now  I  must  go,  the  cotillion  is 
beginning." 

"Don't  you  dance  then?"  enquired  the  count  of 


224  POOR  PLUTOCRATS  |i 

Szilárd.  "Nonsense!  they'll  say  you  are  mourn- 
ing somebody.  Thank  God,  old  Lapussa  was  not 
your  father-in-law,  but  Hátszegi's.  It  is  for  him 
to  pull  a  long  face,  but  you  go  and  dance !" 


CHAPTER  XIII 

TIT  FOR  TAT 

It  may  seem  strange  to  us  that  the  rumour 
of  Fatia  Negra's  nocturnal  adventure  was  not 
spread  abroad  in  these  parts,  but  as  a  matter  of 
fact  nobody  did  speak  of  it.  It  seemed  as  if  every- 
body who  knew  anything  about  it,  died  out  of  the 
world  before  he  could  pass  the  news  on  to  his 
neighbour. 

The  dwellers  in  the  hut  in  the  Ice  Valley  had 
vanished  without  leaving  a  trace  behind  them.  The 
herd,  untended  by  a  shepherd,  was  scattered  to  the 
winds  by  wolves.  Nobody  could  say  what  had 
become  of  Juon  Tare  and  Mariora.  The  person 
who  shewed  least  of  all  tell  that  she  knew  any- 
thing about  this  midnight  adventure  was  Anicza 
herself.  She  had  sobbed  out  the  whole  story  be- 
fore Henrietta,  but  after  that  she  kept  her  own 
counsel  and  kept  a  good  countenance  also  when 
folks  looked  at  her.  But  there  was  venom  at  the 
bottom  of  her  heart,  and  she  nourished  it  there. 

In  a  fortnight's  time  Fatia  Negra  visited  her 
again.  There  was  now  nothing  the  matter  with 
him,  all  traces  of  the  life  and  death  struggle  had 
disappeared.  Anicza  was  more  affectionate  to- 
wards him  than  ever.  She  did  not  even  ask  him 
where  he  had  been  all  this  time,  nor  did  she  notice 

225 


226  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

the  scar  on  his  neck  which  had  not  been  there  be- 
fore. 

Fatia  Negra  came  to  her  at  night,  as  he  always 
did.  The  famous  adventurer  was  very  cautious. 
Anicza  knew  for  certain  that  whenever  he  came 
to  visit  her  in  a  populous  place  like  this,  before  him 
and  behind  him  went  faithful  henchmen  who  stood 
on  guard  at  the  corners  of  the  streets  and  gave  a 
signal  at  the  approach  of  any  danger.  Only 
amongst  the  snowy  mountains  was  he  wont  to  go 
alone.  He  was  also  very  wary  in  other  ways. 
Thus,  he  never  drank  wine:  there  was  really  no 
getting  at  him.  And  if  once  he  had  his  weapons 
handy,  then  he  could  always  cut  his  way  through 
his  enemies,  even  if  he  were  completely  sur- 
rounded. 

"Fatia  Negra,"  said  the  girl,  throwing  her 
arms  round  his  neck,  "last  night  I  had  an  evil 
dream.  I  dreamt  that  the  smallpox  had  ruined 
my  face.  Would  you  love  me  if  I  were  pock- 
marked ?" 

"Yes,  I  would  still  love  you,"  replied  the  ad- 
venturer. 

"Well,  as  it  happens  I  am  not.  Kiss  me !  Then 
I  dreamt  another  dream.  I  dreamt  that  all  our 
property  was  destroyed.  I  was  a  ragged  wander- 
ing beggar  with  my  head  tied  up.  Would  you 
love  me  if  I  were  a  ragged  beggar?" 

"Little  fool,  of  course  I  should  love  you." 

"Then  embrace  me  nicely.  After  that  I  dreamt 
that  some  one  had  shut  me  up  in  prison  for  some 


TIT  FOR  TAT  227 

great  offence;  they  had  condemned  me  to  many 
years'  imprisonment,  condemned  me  to  spend  all 
my  youth  behind  iron-barred  windows  and  they 
would  only  let  me  free  again  when  I  had  become  a 
wrinkled  old  hag.  Would  you  love  me  if  I  was 
in  prison?  Would  you  come  and  stand  outside 
my  iron  bars  and  speak  to  me  now  and  then?" 

"Stop  this  foolish  chatter !  Who  is  able  to  an- 
swer such  questions?"  and  in  order  that  she  should 
obey  the  more  readily  he  closed  her  mouth  with 
kisses. 

But  as  soon  as  the  kisses  were  over,  she  began 
to  prattle  again : 

"But  after  that  I  went  on  dreaming  again,  and 
I  dreamt  what  made  me  very  angry  with  myself, 
I  dreamt  that  I  married  someone  else  and  forgot 
you.  Would  you  still  love  me  if  I  were  to  deceive 
you  and  wed  another?" 

"Yes,  I  would  love  you  even  then,  Anicza, — 
and  my  love  for  you  would  make  me  shoot  you 
through  the  heart." 

How  the  girl  laughed  when  he  said  this ! 

"Wait  a  bit,"  said  she.  "and  you  will  see  that 
it  will  all  come  to  pass.  I  shall  grow  sick  and  ugly. 
I  shall  become  a  poor  beggar.  They  will  send  me 
to  prison  and  make  a  slave  of  me.  I  shall  de- 
ceive you  and  wed  another.  Then  we  shall  see 
whether  you  will  love  me;  then  we  shall  see 
whether  you  will  kill  me." 

Anicza  thought  all  this  so  amusing  that  she 
laughed  aloud.    The  noise  brought  old  Onucz  into 


228  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

the  room.  His  daughter  turned  towards  him 
smilingly.  "Isn't  it  true,  father,  that  three  suitors 
are  courting  me  ?"  she  asked.  "I  was  asking  Fatia 
Negra  which  of  the  three  I  should  take." 

Old  Onucz  scratched  his  nose  pretty  hard  at 
this  question.  He  would  have  liked  to  have  said : 
"whichever  you  like,  as  long  as  it  is  the  right 
one!"  but  he  was  afraid  of  offending  Fatia 
Negra. 

"Well,  Domnule,"  said  he  at  last,  "truth  is 
truth,  after  all.  I'm  getting  an  old  man  now,  and 
what's  the  good  of  my  scraping  together  and  pil- 
ing up  all  these  ducats  if  nothing  comes  of  it  all  ? 
I  have  indeed  an  only  daughter,  a  pretty  girl  and 
a  good  girl,  too,  but  what's  the  use  of  that?  You 
are  not  her  husband.  If  I  only  knew  of  some  cor- 
ner of  the  world  quite  out  of  your  reach,  I  would 
gather  together  all  my  belongings,  seek  it  out  and 
settle  down  there ;  but  it  would  be  of  no  avail,  you 
would  always  find  me  out  and  befool  my  girl 
again,  so  I  have  to  stay  where  I  am." 

"Don't  grumble,  old  chap,  there  is  a  time  for  all 
things.  This  black  mask  shall  not  always  cover 
mj^  face ;  when  I  come  to  see  you,  my  name  shall 
not  always  be  Fatia  Negra.  The  day  will  come 
when  a  carriage  and  four  shall  drive  into  your 
courtyard,  a  sabre-tashed  heyduke  will  then  leap 
from  the  box  and  open  the  silver-plated  coach  and 
a  cavalier  in  cloth  of  gold  will  step  out  who  comes 
to  you  as  a  suitor.  If  you  see  this  ring  on  his 
finger  you  will  know  that  it  is  I,  and  there  will  no 


TIT  FOR  TAT  229 

longer  be  a  Fatia  Negra  in  the  wide  world.  We 
will  go  together  to  Bucharest,  a  true  Roumanian 
city,  where  folks  will  respect  us  and  then  our 
happy  days  will  begin." 

"If  only  that  could  be  soon !  But  you  have  been 
telling  me  this  for  a  long,  long  time." 

"That  is  because  we  cannot  put  an  end  to  our 
work  yet.  There  are  very  many  people  who  still 
expect  much  from  us.  If  I  do  not  satisfy  them 
they  will  remain  a  perpetual  danger  to  us.  That 
is  why  I  am  compelled  to  wear  this  mask  a  little 
longer.  When  once  I  have  taken  it  off,  he  who 
used  to  wear  it  is  dead  and  has  nothing  more  in 
common  with  me." 

"Then  you  really  mean  to  break  away  from 
everything  one  day?" 

"Yes,  it  is  high  time.  My  little  finger  whispers 
that  someone  wants  to  betray  me.  But  say  that 
to  nobody.  We  must  not  frighten  our  own  peo- 
ple. The  Government  is  getting  suspicious  at  the 
disappearance  of  so  much  gold.  It  is  sniffing 
about,  but  at  present  it  is  on  a  wrong  track.  The 
Jews  of  Hungary  are  suspected  and  they  happen 
to  know  nothing  at  all  about  it.  But  it  is  quite 
enough  that  suspicion  has  been  aroused.  So  far 
they  fancy  that  only  about  fifty  to  sixty  pounds  of 
gold  a  year  are  unlawfully  made  away  with.  They 
don't  know  yet  that  it  amounts  to  five  or  six  hun- 
dredweight, which  is  coined  into  ready  money  un- 
derneath the  ground.  This  business  must  \>e  put 
a  stop  to.     This  3^ear  the  mines  yielded  a  rich 


230  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

profit.  Next  Saturday  there  will  be  a  last  deliv- 
'ery  of  gold  in  the  Lucsia  cavern.  As  soon  as  the 
coins  are  struck,  we  shall  divide  the  profits,  wish 
one  another  'buna  nopte!'*  and  depart  our  re- 
spective ways.  We  shall  destroy  the  machinery, 
blow  up  the  smelting  furnaces  with  gunpowder, 
break  down  the  aqueducts  and  close  up  the  mouth 
of  the  cavern.  After  that  everyone  can  do  as  he 
likes  with  his  gold.  I  shall  wash  my  hands 
of  it." 

"Well  said!"  cried  old  Onucz,  "that  is  as  I 
would  have  it  also.  The  whole  lot  of  us  who  are 
partners  in  the  concern  will  meet  once  more  in  the 
Lucsia  cavern.  There  we  will  listen  to  what  you 
say  and  swear  to  each  other  that  we  will  not  say 
a  word  of  what  has  gone  on  down  below  there. 
Then  everyone  will  do  as  you  bid,  for  you  are  the 
most  prudent  of  us  all." 

"Then  I  shall  only  have  to  wait  another  week?" 
enquired  Anicza,  winding  the  locks  of  Fatia 
Negra  round  her  fingers. 

"For  what?"  asked  the  adventurer. 

"Nay,  but  surely  you  know?" 

"Aha !  of  course !"  said  he  smiling.  "You  mean 
you  will  only  have  to  wait  another  week  for  me  to 
cease  to  be  your  husband  under  a  mask  and  be- 
come your  real,  true  husband,  eh?  That  is  the 
end  of  all  your  thoughts,  eh?" 

*"Yes.  yes !"  said  the  girl,  but  she  thought  within 
herself :  "I  shall  only  have  to  wait  a  week  to  give 

•  Good  night. 


TIT  FOR  TAT  231 

up  your  masked  head  into  the  hands  of  the  hang- 
man!" 

So  Fatia  Negra  unsuspiciously  rocked  the  girl 
up  and  down  on  his  knee  and  rellected  com- 
placently :  "Girls  are  made  in  order  that  they  may 
believe  the  lies  which  men  choose  to  tell  them." 

But  Anicza  was  a  Wallachian  girl  and  Wal- 
lachian  girls  are  jealous,  revengeful  and  artful. 

That  Saturday  had  arrived. 

Seven  hundred  torches  lit  up  the  Lucsia  Grotto. 
In  between,  from  out  of  the  corners  of  the  cavern 
Bengal  lights  burst  forth  from  time  to  time  flood- 
ing for  a  few  moments  the  whole  of  that  gloomy 
palace  with  green,  blue,  white  and  rose-coloured 
flames  to  which  the  red  flame  of  the  pitch-torches 
with  their  black  smoke  formed  a  spectral  con- 
trast. 

The  great  company  of  coiners  had  arranged  for 
the  last  evening  before  their  separation  a  sumptu- 
ous feast  in  this  subterranean  hall.  The  floor  was 
strewn  with  white  sand  and  all  round  about  tents 
were  erected  in  which  roast  and  baked  meats  were 
piled  up  into  veritable  hillocks  on  broad  beech- 
wood  dishes.  In  order  to  show  the  wealth  at  their 
command  an  ox  was  roasting  whole  on  a  flaming 
fire,  revolving  as  it  roasted,  while  two  men,  one 
on  each  side,  basted  it  well  with  bacon  fat  held  on 
iron  forks.  Close  behind  it  was  a  gigantic  vat  of 
wine,  everybody  was  free  to  drink  out  of  it  as 
much  as  he  chose.    Right  in  front  of  the  smithy, 


232  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

too,  was  another  gigantic  vat  holding  about  fifty 
firkins,  filled  to  the  brim  with  the  finest  eau  de  vie, 
A  couple  of  young  fellows  lolled  in  front  of  the 
vat ;  they  were  already  too  lazy  to  dip  their  glasses 
into  the  fluid,  they  sucked  it  in  from  the  brim  of 
the  vat  itself. 

The  glare  of  the  smelting  oven  no  longer  shone 
from  the  windows  of  the  stone  building  in  the 
midst  of  the  cavern,  the  smoke  intermingled  with 
sparks  no  longer  welled  out  of  the  flue,  the  sub- 
terranean hubbub  no  longer  accompanied  the 
stroke  of  the  hammers,  the  machinery  was  silent, 
its  work  was  done. 

Two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  coined  ducats 
await  distribution ;  of  these,  fifty  thousand  belong 
to  Fatia  Negra  and  twenty  thousand  to  old  Onucz, 

The  smithy  to-day  is  adorned  with  green  twigs 
and  bright  ribbons,  and  on  its  massive  chimneys 
all  the  requisites  for  a  pyrotechnical  display  have 
been  heaped  up;  it  is  from  these  that  the  rockets 
will  ascend,  it  is  here  the  blue  and  red  Catherine 
wheels  will  revolve.  The  vaulted  ceiling  of  the 
cavern  is  so  high  that  the  rockets  in  their  highest 
flight  will  not  graze  it.  An  orchestral-like  balus- 
trade has  been  provided  for  the  musicians.  The 
shareholders  themselves  will  do  their  best  to  en- 
liven the  festivities  with  fiddles,  flutes  and  bag- 
pipes. The  guests  are  already  appearing,  singly 
and  in  groups,  down  through  the  machinery  of 
the  mill.  The  men  are  all  accompanied  by  their 
womenkind  in  gala  costumes. 


TIT  FOR  TAT  233 

Before  the  appearance  of  Fatia  Negra,  mirth 
and  uproar  have  full  swing.  Everyone  gives  free 
course  to  his  jollity  till  the  chief  comes  whose 
black  mask  is  sufficient  to  quiet  everyone's  good 
humour. 

And  to-day  brings  with  it  its  own  peculiar  fes- 
tivity. After  the  great  distribution  of  money, 
Fatia  Negra  will  take  the  daughter  of  Onucz  by 
the  hand  and  plight  his  troth  to  her  in  front  of  a 
crucifix  placed  on  a  high  pedestal.  The  oath  of 
betrothal  will  be  an  invention  of  Fatia  Negra  him- 
self, filled  with  well  assorted  curses  and  promises. 
And  he  will  swear  to  regard  Anicza  as  his  lawful 
bride  from  this  day  forth  until  such  time  as  he 
can,  without  any  mask  or  disguise,  conduct  her 
before  a  priest  and  solemnize  his  wedding  in  an- 
other place  and  before  other  people.  For  a  long 
time  this  ceremony  has  been  the  pet  idea  of  old 
Onucz  and  now  Fatia  Negra  has  agreed  to  it. 

Gradually  all  the  partners  have  assembled  in  the 
cavern.  Amongst  the  last  to  arrive  are  old  Onucz 
and  his  daughter  with  the  bridesmaids.  Anicza  is 
dressed  as  usual  with  her  girdle  and  embroidered 
bodice  and  a  round  hat  on  her  head.  The  only 
difference  is  that  now  she  sparkles  all  over  with 
gold  and  jewels  and  her  pig-tail  is  interwoven 
with  real  pearls.  Amongst  all  the  picked  beauties 
who  have  gathered  together  here,  she  is  still  the 
most  beautiful. 

Only  the  bridegroom  still  keeps  the  good  folks 
waiting.    He  is  a  long  time  coming,  as  becomes  a 


234  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

great  man.  Nay,  it  is  quite  possible  he  may  be 
there  already  without  anyone  seeing  him.  Per- 
chance he  is  walking  along  there  behind  the  bride 
in  an  invisible  mantle  and  only  when  he  throws 
it  off,  then  only  and  not  till  then  will  the  people 
see  him. 

Anicza  screams  aloud — perhaps  with  joy! 
Everyone  is  thunderstruck;  they  imagine  their 
leader  must  be  in  league  with  the  devil  himself, 
for  he  comes  up  from  out  of  the  earth! 

And  with  what  splendour  does  he  ascend !  The 
purple  robe  that  he  wears  is  scarce  discernible  for 
gold  lace;  a  long  embroidered  mantle,  like  the 
mantle  of  a  prince,  floats  down  from  his  shoulders 
and  on  his  head  he  wears  a  golden  helmet  from 
which  the  mask  depends. 

The  top  of  this  helmet  is  set  all  round  about 
with  diamonds,  and  one  of  his  comrades  makes 
the  remark  that  the  spike  of  this  helmet  is 
somewhat  muddy.  He  wore  no  weapon  by  his 
side,  not  even  a  dagger.  Naturally, — one  gen- 
erally lays  aside  one's  arms  when  one  is  about  to 
swear  solemnly  before  an  altar.  Onucz  approached 
him  obsequiously  and  kissed  the  hand  of  his  mys- 
terious, leader  with  profound  respect,  whilst 
Anicza  approached  him  with  roguish  archness, 
adroitly  feigning  a  superstitious  fear  of  her  ma- 
gician of  a  sweetheart. 

"1  am  not  afraid  of  you,  Fatia  Negra !  though 
you  come  and  go  unseen.  I  fear  you  come  not  in 
God's  name." 


TIT  FOR  TAT  235 

"That  is  true.  We  are  nearer  methinks  to  the 
Kingdom  of  the  Devil." 

"Hush !  say  not  so !" 

"Why  not?  If  these  men  had  imagined  that  I 
came  down  from  Heaven,  they  would  have  be- 
trayed me  long  ago.  They  would  have  carried 
me  bound  to  Fehérvár;  but  because  they  fancy  I 
came  from  below  and  am  acquainted  with  the 
devil,  they  fear  me  and  are  faithful.  It  is  the 
same  with  you :  you  love  me  because  you  fear  me." 

"Ho,  ho,  ho !  We  shall  see.  I  fear  nobody,  not 
even  you.  It  was  a  joke  when  I  said  just  now :  I 
am  afraid.    You  did  not  see  that." 

"Come  now,  I'll  put  you  to  the  test  at  once. 
You  see  that  crucifix  on  the  altar?  On  that  we 
will  swear  fidelity  to  each  other  and  everyone  here 
present  will  also  swear  to  preserve  eternal  secrecy. 
As,  however,  we  coiners  cannot  call  God  to  wit- 
ness, for  by  our  trade  we  have  rejected  him,  our 
oaths  cannot  ascend  to  Heaven  but  must  descend 
elsewhere.  In  order  then  that  our  oath  may  be 
effectual,  go  if  you  have  the  courage,  turn  the 
crucifix  and  return  it  to  its  place — only  upside 
down." 

For  an  instant  the  girl  grew  pale  and  trembled, 
then  she  advanced  boldly  up  to  the  altar,  seized 
the  crucifix  and  lifting  it  up.  turned  it  round  and 
thrust  it  upside  down  into  a  hole  that  happened 
to  be  on  the  altar,  so  that  its  pedestal  stood  up  in 
the  air. 


236  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

All  who  were  present  looked  on  with  wonder 
and  horror. 

As  the  girl  raised  the  cross  and  put  it  down 
again  reverse  ways,  a  mechanical  involuntary  jolt- 
ing motion  of  her  arms  was  discernible,  though 
her  face  betrayed  nothing.  An  electrical  machine 
hidden  beneath  the  altar  was  the  cause  of  this 
shock. 

"Well?"  enquired  Fatia  Negra  as  she  returned 
to  her  place. 

"The  crucifix  struck  me  when  I  seized  it,  and 
struck  me  again  when  I  put  it  down,"  whispered 
the  girl ;  and  as  she  said  these  words  she  was  very 
pale. 

"And  yet  you  did  what  I  told  you,"  said  Fatia 
Negra,  placing  his  hand  on  Anicza's  shoulder. 
"You  are  a  brave  girl,  and  worthy  of  me." 

"Comrades !"  the  leader  of  the  adventurers  now 
cried  with  a  thundrous  voice,  "come  and  listen  to 
me!" 

Everyone  thereupon  abandoned  his  booth,  his 
table  or  his  diversion  and  stood  in  a  circle  round 
Black  Mask. 

"Ye  know,"  he  began,  "the  name  of  that  place 
which  is  under  the  earth !  Its  name  is  the  grave. 
Ye  are  all  of  you  at  this  moment  in  the  grave  with 
me  and  if  I  wish  it,  dead  men.  Whoever  would 
see  once  more  the  bright  sunlight  of  the  upper 
world  where  dawn  is  now  breaking,  he  must  swear 
that  he  will  never  at  any  time,  drunk  or  sober,  tell 
to  any  man  what  has  happened,  what  he  has  seen 


TIT  FOR  TAT  237 

i  or  heard  in  this  underground  tomb,  but  will  re- 
gard it  all  as  a  dream  which  he  has  forgotten  on 
awakening.  Swear  this  with  me  in  this  hour !  I 
myself  will  first  of  all  repeat  the  oath  and  ye  must 
say  whether  ye  are  content  therewith  or  not." 

Thereupon  he  approached  the  altar  whose  base- 
ment formed  the  glass  isolating  "island"  which  all 
of  us  who  have  ever  seen  an  electrical  machine 
know  so  well.  The  electric  machine  itself,  a  battery 
of  Leyden  jars  was  hidden  under  the  altar  and 
connected  by  a  piece  of  clockv/ork  with  that  open- 
ing covered  with  metal  in  which  the  crucifix  had 
been  planted. 

Black  Mask  stood  silently  for  a  moment  on  the 
basement  of  the  altar  after  removing  his  helmet 
from  his  head,  and  those  who  stood  nearest  were 
horrified  to  observe  that  single  hairs  of  his  long 
flowing  mane  of  hair  rose  slowly  and  remained 
stiffly  suspended  in  the  air.  There  was  a  deep 
silence,  the  silence  that  prevails  under  the  earth — 
among  the  Dead. 

And  now  Fatia  Negra  began  to  recite  the  words 
of  the  oath  in  a  solemn  ghostly  voice:  "I,  the 
bearer  of  the  Black  Mask,  Fatia  Negra,  as  they 
call  me,  swear  in  the  subterranean  midnight  by 
the  living .  fire  which  falling  like  rain  reduced 
Sodom  and  Gomorrah  to  ashes ;  by  the  flood  which 
killed  all  the  dwellers  upon  earth ;  by  the  gaping 
gulf  which  swallowed  up  the  traitorous  bands  of 
Dathan  and  Abiram ;  by  the  spirit  which  an- 
nounced the  death  of  King  Saul ;  by  the  Angel 


238  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

Lucifer  who  by  reason  of  his  rebelHon  was  cast 
down  from  Heaven ;  by  the  angel  Malach  Hamo- 
vesh  who  carries  in  his  hands  the  sword  of  violent 
death ;  by  the  twelve  plagues  of  Egypt  with  which 
Moses  visited  the  land  of  the  Pharaohs;  by  all 
these  things  and  by  the  star  under  which  I  was 
born  do  I  swear  secresy — and  may  I  per- 
ish in  fire  and  water,  may  I  be  buried 
alive  in  the  bowels  of  the  earth,  may  I 
become  a  pillar  of  salt,  may  the  wild  beast 
of  the  forest  tear  me  to  pieces,  may  my  own 
weapon  turn  against  me  in  the  evil  hour,  may  I  be 
terrified  by  midnight  spectres  and  hag-ridden,  may 
my  body  be  smitten  with  leprosy,  my  eyes  with 
blindness,  my  tongue  with  dumbness,  my  bones 
by  rottenness,  if  ever  I  speak  one  syllable  to  any- 
body, be  it  priest,  or  child,  or  father,  or  condemn- 
ing judge,  or  threatening  headsman,  of  anything 
I  have  seen,  heard  or  learnt  in  this  place,  or  write 
it  down  with  my  hand  or  put  anybody  on  the 
track  of  it !  May  every  drop  of  my  blood  become 
curse-laden;  may  my  remotest  posterity  anathe- 
matize me ;  may  I  awake  in  my  grave  and  go  about 
again  as  a  spectre,  if  ever  I  act  in  anyway  con- 
trary to  what  I  now  swear!  May  all  those  who 
are  under  the  earth  and  above  the  earth  be  the  wit- 
nesses of  this  my  oath !" 

This  drastic  formula  satisfied  everybody.  In 
those  parts  the  people  much  prefer  such  unmean- 
ing self-objurgation  to  our  legal  oaths  as  taken 
in  the  presence  of  the  judges  and  they  are  con- 


TIT  FOR  TAT  239 

i  sidered  a  hundred  times  more  binding.  Mean- 
while numerous  single  hairs  had  seemed  to  detach 
themselves  from  Black  Mask's  long  locks  and 
now  stood  upright  all  around  his  head  like  some 
spectral  crown.  Those  who  stood  around  re- 
garded him  with  deep  horror.  Many  believed  that 
a  supernatural  marvellous  power  was  in  his 
words;  only  the  girl  did  not  believe  in  him  at  all. 

In  order  to  increase  still  further  this  terrified 
respect  the  adventurer  beckoned  towards  him  the 
old  men  of  the  assembly. 

"Come  hither,  that  ye  may  see  for  yourselves 
how  well  acquainted  with  the  words  of  the  oath  are 
those  in  that  other  place  where  knowledge  needs 
must  be ;  stretch  out  your  hands  towards  me,  touch 
me  with  the  tips  of  your  fingers  and  ye  will  dis- 
cover there  is  something  else  present  here  besides 
yourselves." 

Old  Onucz  tremblingly  stretched  out  his  hand 
in  the  direction  of  Fatia  Negra  and  the  next  mo- 
ment collapsed  with  fear  when  he  perceived  sparks 
crackle  forth  from  his  leader's  garments  which 
burnt  his  finger  tips.  More  than  one  elder  was 
afraid  at  first  to  put  out  his  hand  till  curiosity 
made  him  venture  everything.  Several  wanted  to 
convince  themselves  personally  of  this  miracle, 
which  they  could  not  credit  from  the  hearsay  of 
others  and  the  juggler  himself  encouraged  those 
standing  near  him  to  touch  him  wherever  they 
chose  and  fire  would  spring  from  his  body.  Sparks 
sometimes  leaped  forth  from  his  neck  and  some- 


240  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

times  from  the  tips  of  his  ears  and  everyone  was 
persuaded  that  the  curse  had  already  made  its 
way  into  every  drop  of  his  blood. 

Anicza  alone  did  not  draw  near  him. 

"Are  you  afraid  of  me,  then?"  enquired  the  im- 
poster. 

"No." 

"Come  and  kiss  me  then!" 

Anicza  approached  and  allowed  herself  to  be 
kissed. 

Immediately  afterwards  a  shudder  ran  through 
her. 

"Well  ?    What  did  you  feel  ?" 

"Your  mouth  burnt  my  mouth,"  replied  the  girl, 
and  Fatia  Negra  happening  to  look  aside  just 
then,  she  furtively  crossed  herself, 

Fatia  Negra  was  completely  satisfied  with  the 
success  of  this  comedy.  Their  awe  of  the  mys- 
terious and  the  unintelligible  had  made  his  com- 
rades his  slaves;  he  need  have  no  more  scruples 
concerning  them. 

"Give  me  your  right  hand,  Anicza,"  said  he, 
"and  give  your  other  hand  to  your  next  neigh- 
bour, and  let  everyone  take  the  hand  of  the  per- 
son next  to  him." 

Thus  he  made  them  form  a  long  chain,  the  ex- 
treme end  of  which  was  brought  up  by  old  Onucz 
in  whose  hand  he  placed  a  slender  conducting  rod 
which  hung  down  from  the  altar.  Then  he  recited 
the  fantastic  oath  before  them  all  once  more, 
whilst  they  repeated  every  syllable  of  it  after  him. 


TIT  FOR  TAT  241 

The  comedy  was  concluded  by  a  violent  electric 
shock  which  instantly  sent  a  spasm  of  pain 
through  the  muscles  and  sinews  of  every  member 
of  the  living  chain.  The  poor  untaught  creatures 
all  imagined  that  the  devil  himself  was  flying 
through  their  limbs  and  with  tears  and  groans 
they  begged  Black  Mask  not  to  put  them  to  any 
further  test. 

"And  now,  Fatia  Negra,"  said  old  Onucz  re- 
spectfully, "the  moment  has  come  in  which  you 
also  must  keep  your  word.  Will  you  really  take 
my  daughter  to  wife?" 

'T  will  not  see  the  light  of  day  again  until  I 
have  done  so." 

"Will  you  swear  to  be  her  husband  in  the  way 
you  promised  to  swear?" 

"You  shall  hear  me." 

"Then  have  I  something  else  to  say  to  you. 
Over  there,  as  you  see,  stands  the  great  weighing 
machine,  in  one  of  the  scales  I  will  place  Anicza 
and  in  the  other  as  many  piles  of  ducats  as  will 
make  her  kick  the  beam.  I  will  give  my  girl  as 
many  gold  ducats  as  she  weighs." 

Thereupon  the  two  bridesmen  produced  a  large 
wooden  platter,  placed  the  bride  on  it,  raised  it 
high  in  the  air  and  carried  it  to  the  huge  weigh- 
ing machine.  Onucz  bade  them  place  both  bride 
and  platter  in  the  scale  that  it  might  weigh  the 
heavier.  Then  they  piled  up  into  the  other  scale 
as  many  of  the  sacks  of  ducats  sealed  with  the  seal 
of  Onucz  as  were  necessary  to  establish  an  abso- 


242  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

lute  equipoise  between  the  two  scales,  and  then 
while  both  the  girl  and  the  gold,  balancing  each 
other  were  floating  in  the  air,  old  Onucz,  his  face 
beaming  with  triumph,  poked  Fatia  Negra  in  the 
side  with  his  elbows  and  said :  "And  now  all  that 
is  yours." 

The  adventurer  rushed  to  the  weighing-ma- 
chine, not  indeed  to  the  scale  on  which  the  gold 
was,  but  to  where  the  girl  stood  and  lifted  her 
down  on  his  arm  as  if  she  were  a  child.  The  other 
scale,  losing  its  balance,  rushed  earthwards  and 
the  sacks  filled  with  gold  ducats  toppled  off  it  left 
and  right. 

At  this  the  company  was  delighted.  Fatia 
Negra's  manly  tenderness  was  appreciated  by 
everyone  and  old  Onucz,  radiant  with  joy,  turned 
towards  his  cronies :  "You  see  it  is  not  my  money 
but  my  daughter  that  he  is  after !" 

And  yet  if  Fatia  Negra  had  only  been  able  to 
foresee  what  was  about  to  happen  the  next  instant, 
if  only  he  had  been  able  to  guess  what  would  hap- 
pen during  the  first  few  moments  of  the  first  ap- 
proaching quarter  of  an  hour,  could  he  but  have 
heard  one  step,  one  bump  which  might  have  told 
him  what  was  going  on  just  then  above  his  head, 
instead  of  extending  his  hands  towards  the  girl, 
he  would  have  done  much  more  wisely  if  he  had 
grasped  in  each  hand  one  of  the  sacks  lying 
on  the  other  scale  and  made  off  with  it  somewhere 
through  that  dark  corridor  which  nobody  knew  of 
but  he  himself,  under  the  special  protection  of  the 


TIT  FOP.  TAT  243 

devil.  Just  now,  however,  the  devil  was  evi- 
dently not  looking  after  him  as  carefully  as  usual, 
for  he  returned  to  the  altar  with  the  girl  in  his 
arms  and  deposited  his  load  on  the  altar  steps. 
The  girl  knelt  down. 

"Strew  over  her  corn  moistened  with  honey!" 
whispered  old  Onucz  to  the  bridesmaids ; — he  con- 
sidered this  old  custom  as  of  the  highest  import- 
ance.   Possibly  it  was  a  symbol  of  fruitfulness. 

Anicza  wanted  Fatia  Negra  to  bend  down  to 
her.  She  had  something  to  whisper  in  his  ear. 
He  leant  over  her  as  she  desired,  drew  her  pretty 
face  close  up  to  his,  and  the  girl  timidly  whis- 
pered : 

"Are  you  going  to  take  me  away  under  the 
earth  ?" 

"Are  you  afraid  I  shall  do  so?" 

"With  you  I  will  go  wherever  you  choose  and 
will  fear  nothing." 

"I  take  you  at  your  word." 

"I  don't  care.  Whither  lies  the  way,  to  the 
right  or  to  the  left?" 

"To  the  left.  Everything  which  brings  luck 
must  be  done  lefthandedly." 

"Is  the  door  underneath  the  coining-shop?" 
asked  the  girl  carelessly. 

"Yes,  if  you  must  know." 

"I  am  ready.    Say  the  oath  that  I  may  hear  it !" 

Fatia  Negra  repeated  his  hocus-pocus,  kneeling 
down  beside  Anicza  on  the  steps  of  the  altar,  and 
raising  his  eyes  towards  the  black  vault  of  the 


244  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

cavern  as  he  recited  the  words  of  a  new  oath, 
which  kept  all  the  Usteners  spellbound,  so  full  it 
was  of  grisly  images  and  hellish  fancies.  So  deep 
indeed  was  the  general  attention  that  nobody  ob- 
served in  the  meantime  that,  in  the  dark  back- 
ground formed  by  the  distant  walls  of  the  cavern, 
a  multitude  of  strange  faces  were  popping  up. 
First  two  men  descended  through  the  machinery 
of  the  mill  and  then  two  others  until,  gradually,  a 
hundred  of  them  had  assembled.  They  were  all 
armed  and  dressed  in  uniform,  but  their  arms 
were  concealed  beneath  their  mantles,  that  they 
might  not  glimmer  through  the  darkness.  And 
then  they  quietly  formed  into  ranks  like  super- 
numeraries on  the  stage  of  a  theatre  whilst  the 
chief  comedian  is  ending  his  monologue  in  front  of 
the  footlights.  Only  Anicza  had  observed  them. 
During  the  whole  course  of  the  oath,  she  had  not 
once  looked  at  Fatia  Negra's  cursing  lips,  but  at 
the  groups  forming  in  the  darkness  above  his 
head. 

The  oath  over,  Fatia  Negra  seized  the  reversed 
crucifix  and  an  electric  shock  again  jolted  the  hand 
of  the  girl  which  he  held  fast  in  his  own  right 
hand.    "Now,  you  swear  it  also!"  cried  he. 

The  only  reply  the  girl  gave  was  to  passion- 
ately tear  her  hand  out  of  the  adventurer's.  Ris- 
ing from  her  knees,  and  with  her  handsome  face 
full  of  rage,  scorn  and  hatred,  she  turned  upon 
him,  who  knelt  at  her  feet,  gnashing  her  pearly 
teeth  as  she  spoke :  "Wretched  play-actor !  masked 


TIT  FOR  TAT  245 

imposter !  You  have  deceived  everybody,  but  no- 
body so  much  as  me.  Do  you  remember  that  night 
in  the  ice  valley  and  how  shamefully  you  betrayed 
me  there  ?  Know  then  that  I  was  present  in  that 
hut,  that  it  was  I  who  blew  the  horn  and  brought 
back  the  jealous  husband  from  the  forest.  I  saw 
the  tussle  that  followed  and  I  swore,  there  and 
then,  that  I  would  be  your  ruin.  Just  now  you 
swore  that  if  ever  you  betrayed  me,  thus  might 
you  yourself  be  betrayed  by  whomsoever  you 
trusted  most.  You  said:  'Let  water  pursue;  let 
fire  seize  me,  let  the  axe  of  the  headsman  descend 
upon  me  and  the  dogs  drink  up  my  blood !'  Be  it 
so,  then — here  is  fire  in  front  of  you  and  water 
behind  you  and  the  headsman's  sword  above  your 
head!  The  dogs  that  are  to  lick  your  blood  are 
already  barking  for  it.  I  have  betrayed  you. 
Look  behind  you !" 

The  armed  band  of  soldiers,  moving  forward  in 
line,  like  a  piece  of  machinery,  suddenly  disclosed 
a  row  of  bayonets  glittering  in  the  light  of  the 
torches.  "We  are  lost!"  howled  the  mob,  whilst 
the  voice  of  the  officer  in  command  (it  had  a 
strong  foreign  accent),  rose  above  the  din: 
''Down  with  your  arms !  no  resistance !" 

Onucz  rushed  roaring  towards  his  sacks  of 
ducats,  the  women  scattered  screaming  among  the 
tents.  For  an  instant  Fatia  Negra  stood  petrified 
before  Anicza,  like  a  devil  caught  in  a  trap,  and 
gazed  vacantly  at  the  girl's  flaming  face. 

Anicza  now  turned  quickly  towards  the  armed 


246  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

soldiers  and  cried  with  a  piercing  voice :  "Hasten 
Juon  Tare !  Seize  the  smelting-oven  entrance,  else 
this  devil  will  still  escape  us!" 

That  was  why  she  wanted  to  know  from  Fatia 
Negra  which  way  they  would  go  underground. 

At  these  words,  however,  the  adventurer  recov- 
ered himself.  He  saw  a  pitiless  enemy  and  a  troop 
of  armed  men  hastening  to  the  door  of  the  smelt- 
ing-furnace  and  that  way  of  refuge  was  conse- 
quently closed.  The  same  instant  an  infernal  idea 
occurred  to  him. 

Hastily  snatching  up  a  burning  torch  from  the 
altar  with  a  couple  of  vigorous  bounds  he  ap- 
proached the  smelting-furnace.  Twenty  bayonets 
and  a  long  axe  in  the  hands  of  Juon  Tare  were 
raised  against  him — and  he  was  unarmed. 

But  it  was  not  to  the  door  he  wished  to  get. 
With  a  spring  sideways  he  reached  the  huge  vat 
filled  with  brandy,  threw  the  burning  torch  down 
in  front  of  it  and  placing  his  muscular  shoulders 
against  the  vat,  with  a  desperate  exertion  of 
strength  scattered  its  contents  on  to  the  floor  of 
the  cavern  from  end  to  end. 

In  an  instant  the  whole  cavern  was  in  flames! 

The  floor  was  of  stone  so  that  it  could  not  ab- 
sorb the  spirit  as  it  leaked  out  and  it  flashed  up  as 
it  caught  the  flame  of  the  torch  close  at  hand.  It 
spread  rapidly  like  a  lake  of  fire  that  has  burst  its 
dams. 

The  blue  spirit-flame  filled  the  whole  of  the 
empty  cavern  with  a  pale,  ghastly  glare,  the  air, 


TIT  FOR  TAT  247 

the  empty  space  itself  seemed  to  burst  into  flame. 
Hundreds  of  torches,  burnt  down  to  their  very 
roots,  fliclcered  luridly  in  the  midst  of  this  blue  fire 
of  hell,  and  the  heaped-up  fire  works, — the  Ben- 
gali pyramids  and  the  rockets  and  crackers — 
flamed,  fizzled  and  banged  about  in  the  midst  of 
the  terrible  heat.  And  in  the  thick  of  this  in- 
fernal blaze  black  figures,  like  the  souls  of  the 
Accursed,  were  running  frantically  about,  howl- 
ing, shrieking  and  toppling  over  one  another  and 
seeking  a  refuge  on  the  higher  rocks  whither  the 
flames,  spreading  through  the  air,  leaped  after 
them.  Juon  Tare  lost  his  eyesight  in  the  flames. 
The  others  tried  to  find  a  refuge  in  the  aqueduct 
running  through  the  cavern,  but  the  pursuing  al- 
cohol rushed  after  them  like  a  living  cataract  of 
fire.  Everyone  seemed  bound  to  perish  at  this 
hellish  marriage  feast. 

Only  two  people  did  not  lose  their  presence  of 
mind ;  only  two  knew  what  ought  to  be  done,  and 
one  of  these  was  Fatia  Negra.  When  the  armed 
soldiers  scattered  from  before  the  door  of  the 
smelting-furnace,  he  had  boldly  waded  through 
the  burning  spirit ;  he  knew  very  well  that  it  could 
not  set  fire  to  clothing  immediately  and  he  took 
care  to  hold  his  hands  in  front  of  his  eyes  to  save 
himself  from  being  blinded.  He  tore  the  door 
open  and  hastily  vanished  through  it. 

The  other  was  Anicza,  who,  when  she  saw  that 
in  the  hundred-fold  confusion  everyone  had  lost 
his  head  and  was  running  desperately  to  certain 


248  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

death,  quickly  snatched  up  an  axe,  rushed  to  the 
gigantic  beer  vats  and  staved  in  their  bottoms. 
The  neutral  fluid  streamed  down  upon  the  floor 
like  a  water  fall  and,  gradually  gaining  ground, 
forced  the  flaming  pálinka^  back  further  and  fur- 
ther, till  at  last  the  infernal  blue  light  was  grad- 
ually extinguished. 

By  that  time,  however,  the  beautiful  bride  was 
a  sight  of  horror,  her  face  was  burnt  out  of  all 
recognition. 

Every  member  of  the  party  had  received  in- 
juries from  the  fire.  Some  of  them,  already 
blinded,  writhed  in  agony  on  the  ground  and 
dipped  their  faces  in  the  cool  puddles  formed  by 
the  flovv^ing  beer.  Old  Onucz  had  not  a  hair  of  his 
head  left,  but  for  all  that  he  was  still  sitting  on  a 
heap  of  ducats,  which  were  rolling  in  every  direc- 
tion out  of  the  half  charred  sacks.  His  scorched 
hands  he  dug  down  deep  among  his  ducats,  and 
thought,  perhaps,  that  they  would  assuage  his 
pangs. 

Both  of  Juon  Tare's  eyes  had  been  burnt  out  by 
an  explosion  of  gunpowder,  and  two  of  the  sol- 
diers had  also  received  serious  injuries. 

Only  after  the  general  terror  had  subsided  a  lit- 
tle, did  it  occur  to  someone  that  now  that  the  fire 
had  been  brought  under,  Fatia  Negra  might  be 
pursued.    This  someone  was  the  bride. 

It  was  she  who  seized  a  new  torch,  it  was  she 
who  cried  to  the  soldiers:  "After  me!"  and  was 

*  Hungarian  brandy. 


TIT  FOR  TAT  249 

the  first  to  tear  open  the  door  of  the  smehing- 
fumace.  Within  was  darkness.  By  torchhght 
they  explored  every  corner  of  that  underground 
world — but  Fatia  Negra  was  nowhere  to  be  found. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

THE  MIKALAI  CSÁRDA 

From  Hidvár  to  Gyula  Fehérvár  is  a  good 
day's  journey,  even  with  the  best  horses  and  in  the 
best  weather;  in  the  rainy  season  the  mountain 
streams  make  the  journey  still  longer.  Fortu- 
nately, exactly  half-way  lies  the  Mikalai  csárda, 
in  which  dwells  a  good  honest  Wallachian  gentle- 
man who  also  follows  the  profession  of  innkeeper. 
In  these  mining  regions  there  are  no  Jews,  all  the 
inns  and  csárdás  are  in  the  hands  of  the  Armen- 
ians and  Wallachs:  the  people  are  content  with 
them  and  the  Hungarian  gentry  like  them. 

Young  Makkabesku  had  built  up  his  den  in  a 
most  picturesque  situation  beside  a  stream  gush- 
ing down  from  among  the  mountains  and  forming 
a  waterfall  close  to  the  very  house.  This  stream 
possessed  the  peculiar  property  of  turning  to  stone 
every  leaf  and  twig  which  fell  into  it,  even  the 
branches  of  the  trees  hanging  over  it  were  turned 
into  pretty  white  petrifactions  so  far  as  the  water 
was  able  to  reach  them. 

Domnul  Makkabesku  did  not  carry  on  the  busi- 
ness of  inn-keeper  for  the  sake  of  gain  (he  would 
not  have  been  able  to  make  a  living  out  of  it  if  he 
had  tried),  but  from  sheer  goodheartedness  and 
250 


THE  MIKALAI  CSÁRDA  251 

good-fellowship.  His  charges  therefore  were  ex- 
tremely moderate.  A  traveller  on  foot  who  asked 
for  a  night's  lodging,  had  to  pay  twopence,  a  trav- 
eller on  horseback  a  shilling;  if  he  required  wine 
and  brandy  for  supper  as  well,  still  he  was  only 
charged  a  shilling.  Who  would  go  to  the  trouble 
of  totting  up  extra  figures  for  trifles  of  that  sort? 
A  carriage  and  four  was  not  taxed  at  all,  those 
who  came  in  it  paid  what  they  chose.  If  anybody 
did  not  ask  what  he  had  to  pay  but  simply  shook 
hands  and  went  on  his  way,  mine  host  simply 
wished  him  a  happy  journey  and  never  said  a 
word  about  his  account. 

For  Makkabesku  was  a  proud  man  in  his  way 
and  thought  a  great  deal  of  his  gentility.  He  ex- 
pected to  be  addressed  as  "Domnule!*  and  was  de- 
lighted when  his  guests  took  notice  of  his  coat  of 
arms  hanging  up  in  the  guest  chamber, — to-wit,  a 
black  bear  with  three  darts  in  its  heel — and  en- 
quired as  to  its  meaning;  when  he  would  explain 
that  that  black  bear  with  the  three  darts  which 
was  also  painted  on  a  sheet  of  lead  and  swung 
backwards  and  forwards  in  front  of  the  house  be- 
tween two  iron  rods  was  not  a  sign-board,  but  his 
family  crest 

Late  one  afternoon  Baron  Leonard  Hátszegi 
might  have  been  seen  on  foot  crossing  the  bridge 
which  led  to  the  Mikalai  csárda,  and  entering  its 
courtyard.  He  came  on  foot  with  a  small  box  un- 
der his  arm  and  his  double-barrelled  gun  across  his 

•Sir. 


252  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

shoulder.      Makkabesku   greeted   him   from   the 
verandah  while  he  was  still  a  long  way  off. 

"God  be  with  your  lordship !  Is  anything  amiss 
that  your  lordship  comes  on  foot?" 

"'Yes,  at  that  cursed  tyira  lupului^  the  axle  of 
my  coach  gave  way.  I  have  always  said  that  that 
bad  bit  of  road  ought  to  be  seen  to,  this  is  at  least 
the  sixth  time  that  this  accident  has  befallen  me." 

"God  is  the  cause  thereof,  your  lordship. 
Whenever  the  stream  overflows  it  damages  the 
road." 

"That  is  no  consolation  for  me.  My  fellows  are 
struggling  with  the  coach  yonder  and  cannot  set 
it  upright  again,  so  badly  damaged  it  is.  It  is  a 
good  job  I  was  driving  my  own  horses,  for  other- 
wise my  neck  might  have  been  broken.  As  it  is 
one  of  my  heydukes  has  sprained  his  hand.  Send 
help  to  them  at  once,  or  they  are  likely  to  remain 
there  all  night.    Where's  your  little  girl  ?" 

"Ah,  my  lord !  your  lordship  will  always  be  hav- 
ing your  little  joke. — Flora,  come  hither!" 

A  pretty  little  maid  came  out  of  the  inn  at  these 
words,  and  smiled  upon  the  nobleman  with  a  face 
toasted  red  by  the  kitchen  fire. 

"Take  his  lordship's  gun  and  little  box  and 
carry  them  into  the  guest-room !" 

"Well,  my  little  girl !  how  are  you?  not  married 
yet,  eh?"  said  the  baron,  pinching  her  round  red 
cheeks  whilst  the  wench  took  his  box. 

"Heh,  but  'tis  heavy!"  she  gasped,  as  if  she 

*  Wolf -comer. 


THE  MIKALAI  CSÁRDA  253 

were  quite  frightened  at  the  weight  of  the  box. 
Won't  the  gun  go  off?" 

"Don't  turn  your  fiery  eyes  upon  it,  or  else  it 
might — eh,  grandpapa,  what  do  you  say?" 

''Come,  Flora,  go  in,  go  in!  His  lordship  is 
always  in  such  capital  spirits.  Even  when  his  car- 
riage comes  to  grief  he  will  have  his  joke  all  the 
same." 

The  point  of  the  joke  was  that  Makkabesku 
was  a  man  not  much  beyond  forty  though  there 
were  flecks  of  grey  on  the  back  of  his  head  here 
and  there.  The  girl,  on  the  other  hand,  was 
scarcely  sixteen  when  the  Roumanian  gentleman 
took  her  to  wife.  Leonard  therefore  always  made 
a  point  of  aggravating  the  innkeeper  by  pretend- 
ing to  believe  that  his  wife  was  his  daughter  and 
by  regularly  asking  him,  as  if  he  were  her  grand- 
father, when  he  intended  to  get  his  granddaugh- 
ter married." 

"You  need  not  send  help  to  my  carriage,  after 
all,"  said  Hátszegi,  after  due  reflection;  "for,  by 
and  by  I'll  see  to  that  myself.  I  am  going  back 
that  way.  But  I  should  like  you  to  place  that  lit- 
tle box  in  some  safe  place  for  the  time  being.  It 
contains  4,000  ducats  and  that  is  no  trifle." 

"Huh !  my  lord !"  cried  the  innkeeper  clapping 
the  back  of  his  head  with  both  hands,  as  if  he 
feared  it  was  already  about  to  fall  off  backwards. 
"Your  lordship  dares  to  carry  so  much  gold  about 
with  you  and  stroll  so  carelessly  about  in  these 
parts !" 


254  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

"Carelessly! — what  do  you  mean?  I  cannot 
wheel  them  in  front  of  me  on  a  barrow  can  I  ?  I 
want  to  pay  them  into  my  account  at  Fehérvár 
the  day  after  to-morrow;  I  have  payments  to 
make.    That  is  why  I  carry  them  about  with  me." 

"I  only  meant  to  say  that  it  is  dangerous  to  go 
about  alone  with  so  much  money." 

"I  am  not  in  the  habit  of  going  about  with  an 
escort." 

"The  more's  the  pity,  Domnule.  These  parts 
are  panic-stricken,  since  Anicza  betrayed  the 
coiners  in  the  Lucsia  Cavern,  we  have  been  sad- 
dled with  a  whole  heap  of  calamities.  A  lot  of 
poor  fools  and  a  heap  of  treasure  were  captured, 
but  the  head  of  the  band,  Fatia  Negra,  was  suf- 
fered to  escape.  And  now,  furious  at  his  loss  of 
treasure,  he  blackmails  the  whole  region.  No- 
body is  safe  here  now, — only  the  day  before  yes- 
terday he  stopped  and  robbed  the  royal  mails  on 
the  King's  highroad." 

"Ho,  ho !  If  he  takes  to  those  games,  he'll  soon 
get  his  teeth  broken.  He  won't  venture  to  touch 
me  though,  I'll  be  bound." 

"I  don't  know  about  that  Domnule.  He  wears 
a  mask  and  therefore  has  no  need  to  blush  or 
blanch  at  anything." 

"Does  he  ever  look  in  here,  or  has  he  ever 
lodged  with  you  ?" 

"No,  my  lord,  I  can  safely  say  that  he  has  never 
been  here,  to  my  great  astonishment  I  must  con- 


THE  MIKALAI  CSÁRDA  255 

fess.  For  a  great  many  gentlemen  call  here  and 
many  paths  lead  hither  ward." 

"Don't  you  keep  arms  in  your  house?" 

"Why  should  I  ?  1  have  not  enough  money  to 
make  it  worth  Fatia  Negra's  while  to  rob  me.  Be- 
sides, it  is  a  great  mistake  to  resist  him.  Juon 
Tare  actually  had  him  in  his  hands,  yet  what  was 
the  result?  He  goes  about  now  a  blind  beggar. 
Anicza  betrayed  him  and  brought  down  the  sol- 
diers upon  him,  yet  what  did  she  get  by  it?  He 
vanished  under  the  earth,  but  she  reduced  her  old 
father  to  poverty  and  is  now  sitting  with  all  her 
acquaintances  in  the  dungeons  of  Gyula  Fehér- 
vár!" 

"Fear  nothing!  At  any  rate  no  ill  can  befall 
you  while  I  go  to  my  coachman  and  come  back 
again.  Lock  this  casket  in  your  wall-cupboard  in 
the  meantime,  and  keep  the  key  yourself." 

"Nay,  let  your  lordship  keep  it  rather.  I  don't 
want  it  to  be  said  that  I  knew  anything  about  it." 

So  Makkabesku  locked  up  the  casket  in  the 
huge  wall-closet  which  greatly  resembled  a  large 
standing  clock  case  and  in  which  were  his  diploma 
of  nobility  and  all  his  domestic  treasures.  The 
key  of  the  locked  closet  he  returned  to  his  guest. 
Then  by  way  of  extra  precaution,  he  locked  the 
room  as  well  and  forced  that  key  also  upon  the 
Baron. 

"Domnule,"  he  added,  when  he  saw  that  Háts- 
zegi was  determined  to  return  to  his  wrecked 
coach.    "I  can  only  say  that  I  should  be  very  glad 


256  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

if  your  lordship  would  not  go.    The  servants  will 
be  quite  able  to  bring  the  carriage  along." 

"That  they  cannot:  the  whole  lot  of  them  are 
mere  boors  who  have  never  seen  a  carriage  with 
an  iron  axle." 

"Let  me  go  then,  and  your  lordship  remain 
here." 

"I  suppose  you  want  me,  then,  to  show  your 
daughter  how  to  cook?" 

The  innkeeper's  eyebrows  contracted  at  these 
words ;  his  desire  to  go  visibly  subsided. 

"But  suppose  I  am  afraid  of  being  left  alone  in 
the  house  with  so  much  money  ?" 

"Come,  come,  wretched  man!"  cried  Hátszegi 
at  last  losing  all  patience,  "you  don't  suppose  that 
your  blockhead  of  a  bandit  is  lying  in  wait  for  me, 
do  you?  Look  you  now!  I'll  leave  you  my  gun. 
Take  it  in  your  hand  and  plant  yourself  there  be- 
fore the  door.  Bring  out  a  chair,  if  you  like,  and 
sit  down  on  it.  Pull  down  the  hammers  of  both 
barrels  and  hold  your  thumb  on  them  and  your 
index  finger  on  the  trigger.  The  left  barrel  is 
filled  with  ten  buckshot  and  you  can  be  quite  sure 
that  whoever  approaches  you  from  the  lower  end 
of  this  passage  will  inevitably  get  five  in  his  body, 
— and  five  of  them  is  enough  for  anybody.  The 
second  barrel,  the  right  one  I  mean,  is  loaded  with 
a  bullet  which  we  generally  keep  in  reserve  for  a 
wild  beast,  at  the  last  mom.ent,  at  six  paces ;  at  that 
distance  any  child  could  kill  a  giant.  Don't  be 
afraid,  if  he  wore  a  coat  of  mail,  it  would  go 


THE  MIKALAI  CSÁRDA  257 

through  it,  for  that  bullet  has  a  steel  point  and 
would  perforate  a  leaden  door.  Come,  you  are 
not  afraid  now,  surely?" 

Makkabesku  certainly  felt  a  great  stream  of 
courage  flow  into  his  heart  at  the  knowledge  that 
he  held  in  his  hand  a  weapon  which  could  kill  the 
most  terrible  of  men  twice  over. 

"But  what  about  your  lordship?"  he  enquired. 

"Oh,  I've  got  two  revolvers  in  my  pocket." 

And  with  that,  gaily  whistling,  Hátszegi  strode 
down  the  long  passage  and  peeped  into  the 
kitchen,  on  his  way  out,  to  exchange  a  word  or 
two  with  the  fair  young  cook. 

"Look  ye,  my  daughter,  have  supper  ready  by 
my  return,  and  take  care  not  to  over-salt  the 
soup!"  and  then  with  the  nonchalance  becoming 
his  station  he  sauntered  across  the  bridge  again 
into  the  highroad,  followed  all  the  way  by  the  eyes 
of  Makkabesku. — ''What  a  gallant  fellow  it  is!" 
reflected  the  Roumanian. 

The  innkeeper  did  not  count  courage  among  his 
virtues.  He  was  a  peace-loving  soul  who  de- 
tested the  very  idea  of  a  brawl.  Even  when  he 
sat  down  to  drink,  it  was  always  inside  a  room 
with  a  locked  door,  for  on  one  occasion,  when  he 
had  got  drunk  in  public,  the  wine  had  instilled 
within  him  such  unwonted  audacity  that  he  had 
got  his  skull  broken  in  two  places  in  consequence. 
After  that  he  avoided  all  such  occasions  of  hero- 


ism. 


For  such  folks  who  have  nothing  to  do  with 


258  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

firearms  as  a  rule,  there  is  a  peculiar  charm  in  sud- 
denly holding  a  loaded  weapon  in  their  hands. 
Valour  and  a  sudden  access  of  pugnacity  combine 
to  put  them  in  a  condition  of  perpetual  fever.  A 
strange  longing  arises  within  them  to  make  use  of 
their  weapon.  Once  or  twice  Makkabesku  raised 
his  gun  to  his  cheek  and  made  a  target  of  a  fly  on 
the  wall.  At  the  end  of  the  vestibule  facing  him 
was  an  old  Roman  image,  the  head  and  bust  of  an 
Emperor,  which  had  been  unearthed  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  the  house  when  the  foundations  had 
been  laid,  and  had  been  adopted  forthwith  as  a 
family  relic.  If  this  old  imperial  figurehead  had 
been  an  enemy,  let  us  say  the  famous  robber  of  the 
district,  our  marksman  felt  that  he  could  easily 
have  shattered  his  skull  for  him. 

The  sun  was  now  slowly  descending  from  the 
sky,  and  the  lower  it  sank,  the  less  golden  and  the 
more  purple  grew  the  light  which  it  threw  upon 
the  ancient  monument  opposite,  till  the  shadow  of 
an  adjacent  column  fell  softly  across  it  and  hid  it 
half  from  view. 

Suddenly  it  seemed  to  Makkabesku  as  if  he  saw 
the  shadow  of  a  human  head  moving  beside  the 
shadow  of  the  column. 

The  breath  died  away  on  his  lips — someone  was 
lurking  there! 

"Who  is  there?"  he  cried,  in  a  voice  half  choked 
with  terror.  The  same  instant  there  stood  before 
him  at  the  opposite  end  of  the  corridor — Fatia 
Negra ! 


I 


THE  MIKALAI  CSÁRDA  259 

Yes,  there  the  figure  was  just  as  it  had  been  de- 
scribed to  him,  enfolded  in  a  black  atlas  mantle, 
with  a  black  mask  across  its  face. 

"Stay  where  you  are,  don't  come  here!"  cried 
the  armed  Makkabesku,  in  an  agony  of  terror, 
"or  I'll  shoot  you  through,"  and  as  the  mask  con- 
tinued to  advance,  he  hurriedly  fired  off  the  left 
barrel  of  the  gun. 

The  smoke  of  the  powder  cleared  away,  Fatia 
Negra  stood  there  unwounded,  he  was  coming 
nearer  and  nearer ! 

Ah,  those  little  shots  could  not  hurt  him,  of 
course — but  now  he  shall  have  the  bullet  with  the 
steel  point. 

As  the  first  shot  was  fired,  Makkabesku's  wife 
came  running  out  of  the  kitchen  and  came  face  to 
face  with  the  robber.  He  immediately  seized  her 
arm  with  his  muscular  hand  and  flung  her  back 
into  the  kitchen  the  door  of  which  he  locked  upon 
her. 

Mr.  Makkabesku  permitted  all  this  to  go  on  be- 
fore his  very  eyes,  but  he  had  raised  the  gun  and 
held  it  firmly  pressed  against  his  cheek,  he  wanted 
the  robber  to  draw  nearer  still  that  he  might  make 
quite  sure  of  him. 

When  there  were  only  three  yards  between 
them  he  aimed  right  at  the  middle  of  the  intruder, 
pressed  the  trigger  of  the  gun  and  the  right  barrel 
also  exploded. 

Yet  the  report  was  followed  by  no  death  cry — 
and  Fatia  Ner~'^  c^ai  -tood  in  front  of  him  un- 
scathed. 


26o  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

Paralyzed  with  terror  Makkabesku  continued 
to  hold  the  discharged  gun  in  front  of  him  as  if  he 
expected  it  to  go  off  again  of  its  own  accord ;  but 
Fatia  Negra,  catching  hold  of  the  end  of  the  gun 
with  one  hand,  wrenched  it  out  of  the  innkeeper's 
grasp  and  brought  down  the  butt  of  it  so  violently 
on  the  top  of  his  head  that  he  collapsed  in  a  sense- 
less condition. 

After  that  nobody  knew  what  happened. 

When  Hátszegi  and  his  servants  arrived  with 
the  patched-up  carriage,  Makkabesku  was  still  ly- 
ing on  the  ground  unconscious,  his  wife  was  thun- 
dering at  the  locked  door,  the  door  of  the  guest 
chamber  was  smashed  and  the  cupboard  in  the 
wall  had  been  broken  into  and  pillaged.  Curiously 
enough,  while  not  one  of  the  innkeeper's  relics  was 
■missing,  Hátszegi's  box  with  the  4,000  ducats  had 
disappeared.  A  little  later  it  was  found  in  the  bed 
of  the  stream — empty  of  course. 

Makkabesku  was  a  very  long  time  coming  to, 
but  he  contrived  at  last,  in  a  very  tremulous  voice, 
to  tell  Hátszegi  the  somnambulistic  case  of  the 
double  shots,  nay  he  called  Heaven  to  witness  that 
Fatia  Negra  had  caught  the  bullets  in  his  hands  as 
if  they  were  flies. 

"You're  a  fool,"  cried  Hátszegi  angrily.  "I  sup- 
pose you  fired  above  his  head  on  both  occasions." 

"But  then  you  ought  to  see  the  marks  of  the 
ballets  on  the  opposite  wall." 

And  it  was  a  fact  that,  look  as  they  might,  they 
found  no  trace  of  a  bullet  on  th<^  walls  or  anywhere 
else. 


CHAPTER  XV 

WHO  IT  WAS  THAT  RECOGNISED  FATIA  NEGRA 

The  events  at  the  Mikalai  csárda  considerably 
upset  Hátszegi.  He  returned  home  very  sulky  and 
was  unusually  ungracious  towards  Henrietta. 
There  were  several  violent  scenes  between  them, 
in  the  course  of  which  the  baron  twitted  his  wife 
with  having  betrayed  him  and  hinted  that  it  was 
all  in  consequence  of  her  own  and  her  brother's 
bad  conduct  that  she  had  been  disinherited  by  her 
grandfather.  He  revealed  to  her  that  he  knew 
everything.  He  was  well  aware,  he  said,  that  in 
her  girlhood  she  had  had  a  rascally  young  attor- 
ney as  a  lover  and  had  thereby  incurred  her  grand- 
father's anger. 

Henrietta,  poor  thing,  had  not  the  spirit  to  an- 
swer him  back :  "If  you  knew  this,  why  did  you 
marry  me  ?  Why  did  you  not  leave  me  then  to  him 
with  whom  I  should  have  been  happy  if  poor?" 
She  could  only  reply  with  tears.  She  trembled  be- 
fore him  while  she  loathed  him. 

And  yet  how  dependent  she  was  on  him. 

She  was  well  aware  now  of  what  her  brother 
was  accused,  and  never  doubted  for  a  moment 
what  she  ought  to  do.  She  ought  to  atone  for  his 
fault  by  an  act  of  self-sacrifice.  She  must  recog- 
nize the  forgery  as  her  real  signature.  But 
261 


202  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

what  then  ?  The  recognition  of  the  signature  must 
needs  have  consequences.  What  would  be  the  re- 
sult of  her  action  ? 

She  could  see  she  had  no  help  to  expect  from 
her  husband.  At  every  step  she  perceived  that  he 
eagerly  sought  occasion  to  quarrel  with  her  and 
seized  every  pretext  for  avoiding  her.  And  now  to 
add  to  her  embarrassment,  there  was  this  unlucky 
Mikalai  accident.  It  seemed  just  to  have  come  in 
the  nick  of  time  so  far  as  he  was  concerned,  just  as 
if  he  had  actually  agreed  with  Fatia  Negra  that 
the  latter  should  rob  him  on  the  high  road  in  the 
most  artful  manner  so  that  she  might  not  have 
the  slightest  hope  left  of  being  relieved  from  her 
anxieties  by  the  assistance  of  her  husband.  The 
baron,  now  could  always  end  every  tete-á-téte  by 
remarking  that  that  rogue  Fatia  Negra  had  re- 
lieved him  of  all  his  money,  and  he  knew  not  how 
to  make  good  his  loss. 

One  day,  while  away  from  home  hunting  at 
Csákó,  Baron  Leonard  learnt  that  the  Countess 
Kengyelesy's  latest  ideal  was  Szilárd  Vámhidy 
and  when  chance  soon  afterwards  brought  him 
also  to  Arad,  he  could  see  for  himself  that  the 
countess  really  did  load  the  young  man  with  dis- 
tinction in  society. 

The  circumstance  began  to  irritate  him. 

This  pale-faced  youth  with  the  big  burning  eyes 
had  turned  the  head  of  his  own  consort  once  upon 
a  time,  and  now  he  was  making  other  enviable 
conquests.      The   idea   occurred   to    Hátszegi    to 


WHO  RECOGNIZED  FATIA  NEGRA   263 

knock  this  "student  chap"  out  of  his  saddle  a  sec- 
ond time.  Heretofore  he  had  never  regarded  the 
countess  as  a  particularly  pretty  woman,  but  now 
he  very  readily  persuaded  himself  that  he  was  over 
head  and  ears  in  love  with  her. 

He  began  to  pay  his  court  to  her — and  he  was 
lucky.  At  least  everybody  believed  it — himself  in- 
cluded. 

The  countess  always  seemed  pleased  to  see  him, 
and  the  oftener  he  paid  his  visits,  the  less  frequent 
grew  the  visits  of  Szilárd.  Occasionally  they  met 
at  the  countess's  and  then  Szilárd  would  hastily 
step  aside,  as  vanquished  rivals  are  wont  to  do 
when  their  conquerors  appear.  At  last  Leonard 
was  a  daily  institution  at  the  countess's,  while 
Szilárd  only  appeared  there  occasionally. 

Yet  one  day,  while  Hátszegi  was  in  the  draw- 
ing room  of  the  countess,  paying  his  court  to  her 
most  assiduously,  Vámhidy  entered  sans  gene; 
whereupon  the  countess  hastily  springing  up  from 
her  causetise  asked  leave  of  the  baron  to  with- 
draw for  a  moment  and  there  and  then  conducted 
Vámhidy  into  her  private  boudoir  and  remained 
closeted  with  him  for  a  good  quarter  of  an  hour, 
whilst  Hátszegi,  yellow  with  jealousy,  was  left 
alone  with  the  countess's  French  companion,  who 
could  answer  nothing  but  "oui"  and  "non"  to  all 
his  remarks. 

When  the  countess  emerged  from  her  room, 
she  seemed  to  be  in  a  very  good  humour.  She  ac- 
companied Szilárd  all  the  way  to  the  drawing- 


204  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

room  door,  pressed  his  hand,  and  when  they 
parted  at  the  door  exchanged  a  significant  look 
with  him,  at  the  same  time  touching  her  Hps  with 
her  index  finger — a  very  confidential  piece  of  pan- 
tomime as  any  connoisseur  will  tell  you. 

And  all  this  Hátszegi  saw  reflected  in  the  mir- 
ror, opposite  to  which  he  sat. 

As  soon  as  the  countess  sat  down,  her  com- 
panion, as  if  at  a  given  signal,  arose  and  left  the 
room. 

Scarcely  were  they  alone  when  the  baron  petu- 
lantly remarked :  "It  appears  as  if  your  ladyship 
and  our  young  friend  rejoiced  in  very  intimate 
mutual  relations." 

"Oh,  very  intimate.  I  assure  you  he  is  a  most 
worthy,  honourable  man." 

"So  I  observe." 

"I  am  quite  in  earnest.  I  find  him  quite  a  treas- 
ure, and  he  is  extraordinarily  attached  to  me." 

"Very  nice  of  him,  I'm  sure." 

"Oh,  you  gentlemen,  what  mockers  you  are. 
There  are  men,  I  can  tell  you,  who  for  all  that  they 
are  poor  are  more  capable  of  self-sacrifice  than  the 
haughtiest  nabobs  who  make  such  a  fuss  over  us 
till  we  are  in  trouble  and  then  snatch  up  their  hats 
and  fly  from  the  house.  You  also  belong  to  that 
class,  my  lord !" 

"I  don't  understand  you." 

"Suppose,  for  instance,  I  were  to  say  to  you: 
my  dear  friend,  I  have  fallen  into  quite  an  awk- 


WHO  RECOGNIZED  FATIA  NEGRA   265 

ward  predicament  and  to-day  or  to-morrow  they 
will  distrain  upon  me  for  40,000  florins." 

The  baron  burst  out  laughing. 

"Don't  laugh,  for  so  it  really  is.  That  need 
cause  you  no  anxiety,  however,  I  only  ask  you  to 
tell  nobody,  especially  my  husband.  He  would  be 
capable  of  making  an  end  of  me  if  he  knew  it." 

"But  seriously,  countess,  who  could  ever  have 
lent  you  40,000  florins?" 

"Nobody,  and  yet  I  am  indebted  to  that  amount. 
You  must  know  that  once  upon  a  time,  many  years 
ago,  when  we  lived  at  Vienna,  I  was  given  to  card 
playing.  We  played  for  high  stakes  in  those  days. 
One  evening  not  only  did  I  lose  all  my  cash,  but 
had  to  give  I.O.U.'s  for  1,000  florins  besides. 
Debts  contracted  at  play  cannot  remain  unpaid  for 
more  than  a  couple  of  days.  It  was  absolutely  in- 
dispensable that  I  should  procure  these  thousand 
florins  somehow.  I  would  not  ask  my  husband  for 
them  and  that  was  very  foolish  of  me.  I  got  the 
amount  at  last  from  a  wretched  usurer  at  an 
enormous  rate  of  interest.  When  the  amount  plus 
interest  became  due  again,  I  was  still  more  afraid 
to  tell  my  husband,  and  so  kept  on  giving  fresh 
bills,  with  the  result  that  the  amount  of  my  in- 
debtedness grew  and  grew  as  the  years  rolled  on, 
till  it  resembled  the  egg  of  the  widow  in  the 
nursery  tale — out  of  which  came  first  two  cocks, 
then  a  bristling  boar,  then  a  camel,  and  finally  a 
carriage  and  four,  for  at  last  my  original  poor  lit- 
tle debt  of  one  thousand  florins  swelled  into  forty 


266  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

thousand  and  the  usurers  became  importunate 
and  would  allow  me  no  more  credit.  Once  when 
I  was  in  a  very  bad  humour,  I  let  out  my  secret  be- 
fore Szilárd,  and  the  worthy  young  man  under- 
took to  relieve  me  of  my  burden.  I  don't  know 
whether  he  detected  a  technical  flaw  in  my  bonds 
or  whether  he  found  out  some  other  means  of 
frightening  my  creditor ;  anyway,  he  assured  me  I 
only  need  pay  the  original  sum  with  interest  upon 
it  at  the  legal  rate.  Moreover,  he  undertook  to 
procure  me  an  honourable  loan  on  easy  conditions, 
which  to  me  was  a  veritable  godsend.  And  so 
now  you  know,  my  dear  friend,  why  Vámhidy  is 
so  welcome  a  guest  at  my  house  that  I  leave  even 
you  all  alone  with  my  companion  when  he  comes. 
But  you  can  see  for  yourself  how  dear  and  neces- 
sary he  is  to  me  and  how  much  I  owe  to  him." 

Hátszegi  remained  in  a  brown  study  for  several 
moments,  and  began  biting  his  lips.  The  countess 
sat  down  at  the  piano  with  the  most  amiable  non- 
chalance as  if  she  gave  not  another  thought  to 
what  she  had  been  speaking  about. 

"If  only  I  had  not  had  the  misfortune  to  be 
robbed !"  cried  Hátszegi  at  last. 

"Do  you  know  what,  my  dear  friend,"  said  the 
countess,  at  the  same  time  letting  her  fingers  glide 
lightly  over  the  ivory  keys  of  the  piano,  "I  con- 
sider the  whole  of  that  affair  as  simply  incredible. 
Two  shots  so  close  to  a  man  and  no  result ! — why 
it  borders  a  little  upon  the  fabulous !" 


WHO  RECOGNIZED  FATIA  NEGRA   267 

"Then  I  suppose  you  think  it  was  the  innkeeper 
himself  who  robbed  me?" 

The  countess  shrugged  her  round  shoulders 
slightly  and  went  on  playing. 

"That  is  not  possible,"  resumed  the  baron,  an- 
swering his  own  query,  "for  I  myself  saw  the 
blow  which  Makkabesku  received  on  the  head 
from  the  butt  of  the  musket,  and  I  can  tell  your 
ladyship  that  there  are  no  four  thousand  ducats  in 
the  world  for  the  sake  of  which  I  could  lend  my 
head  to  such  a  blow." 

The  countess  interrupted  her  roulades  for  a 
moment : 

"You  saw  it,  eh?  And  did  anybody  else  see 
it?" 

Hátszegi  was  strangely  surprised  by  this  ques- 
tion. 

"What  is  in  your  mind.  Countess  ?"  he  asked. 

"I  am  thinking,  my  dear  friend,  that  you  have 
some  particular  reason  for  playing  the  injured 
man,  and  I  have  read  the  whole  tale  of  the 
Maccabees  in  some  history  or  other  of  the  Jews 
which  you  would  now  palm  off  upon  the  world  as 
something  new." 

"Your  jests  are  most  unmerciful,  Countess ;  but 
may  I  beg  of  you  to  give  that  piano  a  little  rest,  es- 
pecially as  it  wants  tuning.  I  should  like  to  speak 
seriously  to  you  for  a  moment  or  two." 

"About  the  Maccabees,  eh?"  enquired  the 
countess,  laughing. 

"No.    About  myself.   I  am  quite  serious  when 


268  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

I  say  I  have  had  losses.  Your  ladyship  need  not 
know  how.  But  for  all  that  I  know  what  a  gentle- 
man ought  to  do  after  such  a  revelation  as  that 
with  which  the  countess  has  just  honoured  me 
and  which  I  accept  as  a  most  flattering  mark  of 
confidence." 

"Impossible." 

"What  I  say  is  never  impossible ;  but  what  that 
student  fellow  has  chosen  to  palm  ofif  on  your 
ladyship  that  is  impossible.  He  will  not  be  able  to 
help  your  ladyship  without  a  great  scandal.  Nat- 
urally a  mere  attorney  looks  upon  that  as  a  matter 
of  course.  He  does  not  understand  that  there  are 
cases  in  which  a  person  would  rather  spring  into 
a  well  than  risk  her  reputation  in  the  eyes  of  the 
world  by  appealing  to  the  courts  for  redress.  I 
make  your  ladyship  another  proposal:  I  will  ex- 
change a  bond  of  my  own  against  the  bond  of  the 
countess  to  an  equal  amount.  I  feel  confident  that 
the  usurers  will  lend  readily  on  my  paper  and  will 
jump  at  the  exchange." 

"Oh,  many  thanks,  many  thanks !  But,  first  of 
all,  I  should  like  to  know  what  interest  you  mean 
to  charge  me ;  for  I  am  not  going  to  pay  anything 
usurious  again." 

"Legal  and  Christian  interest,  I  assure  you.  But 
I  must  impose  one  condition :  your  ladyship's 
doors  must  henceforth  be  closed  against  this  law- 
yer fellow." 

"Are  you  serious.  Baron?" 

"Perfectly  so." 


WHO  RECOGNIZED  FATIA  NEGRA   269 

"Are  you  not  afraid  I  shall  take  you  at  your 
word?" 

"By  doing  so  you  will  satisfy  my  desires. 
Look,  Countess !  I  consider  myself  as  one  of  your 
most  sincere  admirers  and  it  wounds  me  to  hear 
all  this  tittle-tattle  circulating  in  our  set  which 
links  your  ladyship's  name  with  that  of  young 
Vámhidy." 

"But  will  it  not  injure  the  respect  you  entertain 
for  me  if  your  name  takes  the  place  of  Vámhidy's 
in  the  gossip  you  complain  of?" 

"All  that  I  desire  is  that  a  certain  man  shall  be 
excluded  from  this  house,  and  if  the  countess  de- 
sires it  I  will  then  keep  away  likewise." 

The  countess  hastened  to  press  Hátszegi's  hand 
as  a  sign  that  she  did  not  desire  that. 

"Very  well,  then,  to  prove  to  you  that  my  rela- 
tions with  Vámhidy  were  purely  professional,  I 
will  break  ofif  all  further  intercourse  with  him." 

"Then  we'll  clinch  your  ladyship's  determina- 
tion at  once.  May  I  make  use  of  your  writing  ta- 
ble? Have  you  any  other  ink  than  this  rose-col- 
oured ink,  with  which  to  be  sure,  your  ladyship 
generally  writes  your  letters,  but  which  is  a  little 
unusual  in  official  documents?" 

"Everything  you  desire,  sealing-wax  included." 

"That  is  not  necessary  for  bills.  What  a  fortu- 
nate thing  that  I  have  a  blank  form  with  me." 

The  baron  discovered  in  his  pocket  a  blank 
form,  without  which  no  gentleman  ever  goes 
about,  and  filled  it  up  in  the  usual  way.      The 


270  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

countess,  with  her  elbows  on  the  back  of  the  arm- 
chair, looked  over  the  baron's  shoulder  while  he 
signed  the  precious  document,  and  thought  to  her- 
self :  what  an  odd  thing  it  is  when  a  rich  and  influ- 
ential man  refuses,  with  a  heart  of  iron,  to  give  his 
wife  a  little  assistance  which  would  make  her 
happy  and  save  her  brother  from  dishonour,  and 
yet  lightly  pitches  the  very  sum  required  out  of  the 
window  for  the  sake  of  a  pretty  speech  from  an- 
other woman  who  is  almost  a  stranger  to  him ! 

After  signing  the  document  Leonard  did  not 
linger  another  instant,  but  snatched  up  his  hat 
and  hastened  off  so  as  to  avoid  the  suspicion  that 
he  was  expecting  some  little  gratification  on  ac- 
count. 

The  pressure  of  the  hand  which  the  countess 
exchanged  with  him  at  parting  assured  him  that 
this  conquering  manoeuver  on  his  part  was  a  com- 
plete success. 

Subsequently,  however,  as,  stretched  at  full 
length  on  his  sofa,  he  was  smoking  his  first  pipe  of 
tobacco,  he  grew  suspicious,  and  speedily  felt  con- 
vinced that  the  countess's  tale  of  the  usurers  was 
a  fable  from  beginning  to  end  and  that  Vámhidy 
was  some  broker  or  other  who  lent  money  pri- 
vately; and  he  began  to  be  not  quite  so  proud  at 
having  ousted  the  fellow  from  her  ladyship's 
drawing  room. 

But  a  still  greater  surprise  awaited  him. 

He  had  a  shrewd  suspicion  that  the  Countess 
Kengyelesy  did  not  require  the  bill  he  had  signed 


WHO  RECOGNIZED  FATIA  NEGRA   271 

to  discharge  any  debt  to  usurers ;  but  not  even  in 
his  dreams  would  it  ever  have  occurred  to  him  that 
Madame  Kengyelesy,  at  the  very  moment  when 
he  had  gone  out  into  the  street,  had  sat  down  on 
the  very  same  chair  from  which  the  baron  had 
arisen,  taken  into  her  hand  the  very  same  pen  in 
jvhich  the  ink  he  had  used  vras  not  yet  dry,  and 
selecting  a  sheet  of  letter  paper,  written  a  few 
lines  of  her  long  pointed  pot-hooks  to  her  friend, 
the  Baroness  Hátszegi :  informing  her  in  a  most 
friendly  manner  that  she  had  succeeded  in  per- 
suading Hátszegi  to  exchange  the  bill  that  Kolo- 
man  was  suspected  of  forging  for  one  of  his  own 
in  order  to  give  his  wife  the  opportunity  of  ac- 
knowledging the  signature  as  her  own  and  put- 
ting a  stop  to  all  further  legal  proceedings.  All 
this  was  set  forth  with  far  greater  elaboration 
than  it  is  here,  but  was  nevertheless  perfectly  in- 
telligible. The  original  bill  was  appended  to  the 
letter  and  the  letter  was  posted.  Henrietta  was 
bound  to  receive  it  next  day. 

Imagine  then  the  surprise  of  Hátszegi,  who  for 
the  last  three  days  had  been  pacing  impatiently  up 
and  down  his  room,  naturally  expecting  every  mo- 
ment that  the  countess  would  surrender  at  discre- 
tion and  send  for  him  out  of  sheer  gratitude,  when 
the  door  was  suddenly  opened  with  considerable 
impetuosity  and  in  came — Henrietta.  Before  he 
could  sufficiently  recover  from  his  amazement  to 
ask  her  what  she  Avas  looking  for  there,  his  wife 
fell  on  his  neck,  and,  sobbing  with  emotion,  came 


272  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

out  with  some  long  rigamarole  about  delicacy, — 
gratitude — a  delightful  surprise — and  only  half 
suspected  kindness  of  heart — and  a  lot  more  of  un- 
intelligible nonsense,  winding  up  by  begging  his 
pardon  if  ever  she  had  unwittingly  offended  him 
and  promising  him  that  after  this  she  would  ever 
be  his  faithful  slave ! 

After  this! — after  what? 

It  was  only  when  his  wife  told  him  that  she  was 
alluding  to  that  bill  for  40,000  florins  which  he 
had  been  so  kind  as  to  send  her  through  the 
countess,  that  some  inkling  of  the  truth  burst 
upon  him, 

"Oh,  that  eh !  It  quite  escaped  my  memory  and 
is  not  worth  mentioning,"  he  cried,  hiding  his  as- 
tonishment beneath  the  affectation  of  a  magnani- 
mity which  scorned  even  to  remember  such  trifles. 

Oh,  if  the  countess  had  been  able  to  see  him  at 
that  moment,  how  she  would  have  laughed ! 

Every  drop  of  Leonard's  blood  seemed  to  turn 
to  gall.  How  ridiculous  he  had  been  made  to  ap- 
pear by  a  woman's  nobility,  and  the  consciousness 
thereof  was  still  further  embittered  by  the  artless 
and  innocent  gratitude  of  that  other  woman — his 
own  wife.  He  could  have  torn  the  pair  of  them  to 
pieces.  What  a  pretty  fool  he  had  made  of  him- 
self. He  had  purchased  the  love  of  his  wife  for 
40,000  florins.  He  could  not  demand  back  the 
bill  from  her,  nor  could  he  explain  to  her  the  com- 
promising origin  of  that  document.  And  in  addi- 
tion to  that,  he  must  play  the  part  of  dignified  pa- 


WHO  RECOGNIZED  FATIA  NEGRA   273 

ter  familias  which  his  wife  had  assigned  to  him  in 
this  domestic  drama,  instead  of  that  of  first  lover 
which  was  so  much  more  to  his  Hking. 

"All  right,  Henrietta,"  said  he,  assuming  a 
calmness  he  was  far  from  feeling.  "If  you  like  to 
give  me  the  bill,  I'll  see  that  it  is  posted  to  your 
lawyer  at  Pest,  Mr.  Sipos." 

'Henrietta  thanked  him  sincerely,  but  said  she 
would  rather  take  it  to  Pest  herself  in  order  that 
she  might  have  a  long  confidential  talk  with  Mr. 
Sipos  personally  about  her  poor  brother. 

"Then  wait,  Henrietta,  till  the  Arad  races  are 
over.  You  know  I  am  greatly  interested  in  them. 
If  I  am  not  there  myself  they  are  quite  capable  of 
striking  my  horses  out." 

"My  dear  Leonard,  I  don't  want  you  to  inter- 
rupt any  of  your  business  or  pleasure  on  my  ac- 
count. I  can  easily  go  by  myself.  But  I  don't  want 
to  postpone  the  matter  a  single  day.  You  know 
how  anxious  I  am  about  my  poor  brother." 

"Well,  but  you  know  that  the  roads  are  very 
dangerous  just  now.  You  know  what  happened  to 
myself  a  little  while  ago." 

"Oh,  I  have  my  plan  all  cut  and  dried.  I  am 
prepared  for  the  very  worst.  If  robbers  attack  me 
I  will  give  up  to  them,  at  the  first  challenge,  all 
the  cash  I  have  about  me.  What  I  am  most  afraid 
of  is  the  bill,  but  I  will  hide  that  so  that  nobody 
can  find  it." 

"My  dear,  these  men  are  very  artful." 

"Oh,  they  v/on't  find  it,  I  can  tell  you.   The  in- 


274  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

sides  of  my  upper-sleeves  consist  of  steel  rings 
which  fasten  close  to  the  arms,  and  I  will  roll  up 
my  bill,  insert  it  within  my  sleeve  and  draw  a 
fiteel  ring  over  it.  They  will  never  guess  that,  will 
they?" 

"A  good  idea,  certainly." 

Yet,  good  idea  as  he  thought  it,  Hátszegi  never- 
theless complained  to  his  friend  Gerzson,  whom  he 
met  at  the  club  the  same  evening,  how  anxious  he 
was  about  his  wife,  who  was  going  all  the  way 
to  Pest  next  day,  and  how  glad  he  would  be,  since 
he  was  unable  to  accompany  her  himself,  if  some- 
one would  persuade  her  not  to  go. 

Naturally  Mr.  Gerzson  at  once  offered  to  dis- 
suade the  baroness,  as  Hátsezegi  had  anticipated, 
and  was  invited  to  tea  by  him  the  same  day  with 
that  express  purpose,  but,  talk  as  he  might,  he 
could  not  prevail  with  Henrietta.  In  reply  to  all 
his  arguments,  she  pleaded  for  her  poor  brother, 
whose  fate,  she  added,  with  tears,  depended  upon 
her  instant  action. 

Now,  Mr.  Gerzson  was  a  gentleman — every 
inch  of  him.  He  was  also  kind-hearted  to  a  fault, 
and  when  he  beheld  the  poor  woman  in  despair,  he 
put  an  end  to  the  difficulty  by  saying :  "Very  well, 
my  lady,  then  I  will  escort  you  to  Pest  myself." 

At  this  Hátszegi  fairly  lost  all  patience.  "Why, 
what  can  you  be  thinking  of?"  cried  he. 

"Your  pardon,  Leonard,  but  I  suppose  you  may 
regard  me  as  old  enough  and  honourable  enough 
to  fill  the  place  of  a  father  to  your  wife  on  an  occa- 


WHO  RECOGNIZED  FATIA  NEGRA   275 

sion  like  this !  It  appears  to  me  that  it  will  never 
enter  anybody's  head  to  speak  slightingly  of  a  lady 
because  she  travelled  alone  with  me." 

Good,  worthy  old  man,  he  was  quite  proud  that 
no  woman  could  look  at  his  face  without  a  shud- 
der, 

"And  then  I  fancy  that  there's  still  quite  enough 
of  me  left  to  defend  a  woman  against  anybody, 
even  though  it  were  the  devil  himself.  And  I 
should  advise  that  worthy  Fatia  Negra  not  to 
show  his  mug  to  me,  for  my  stunted  hand  does  not 
fire  guns  as  our  friend  Makkabesku  is  in  the  habit 
of  doing,  nor  will  my  bullets  be  caught  like  flies,  I 
warrant." 

"You  will  be  done  out  of  the  horse-racing,  all 
through  me,"  remarked  Henrietta  sadly. 

"Oh,  it  does  not  interest  me  much.  I  don't  care 
much  about  it." 

This  was  not  true,  but  it  was  all  the  nicer  of  the 
old  man  to  say  so. 

"Then  you  really  mean  to  escort  my  wife  to 
Pest?"  said  Hátszegi,  ?t  last. 

"With  the  greatest  of  pleasure." 

"Very  well.  At  any  rate,  I  will  see  to  all  the 
travelling  arrangements  that  there  may  be  no  de- 
lay at  any  of  the  stages.  Which  way  do  you  pre- 
fer to  go  via  Csongrád  or  via  vS'zeged  ? 

"By  way  of  Csongrád." 

"Well,  'tis  the  shorter  of  the  two  certainly,  but 
at  this  season  of  the  vear  the  road  is  as  hard  as 


276  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

steel.  It  will  be  as  well  to  provide  my  horses  witK 
fresh  shoes." 

"It  is  now  ten  o'clock.  By  midnight  your  coach- 
man will  have  managed  to  do  all  that.  The  baron- 
ess would  do  well  if  she  had  a  little  sleep  now. 
Meanwhile  I  will  go  home  for  my  luggage  and  my 
weapons ;  at  two  o'clock  in  the  morning  I  shall  be 
here  again,  and  at  three  we  can  start." 

"I  will  be  awake  and  watching  for  you,  and  I 
thank  you  with  all  my  heart." 

Mr.  Gerzson  drank  up  his  tea  and  hastened 
home.  Leonard  advised  Henrietta  to  go  and  sleep 
— and  she  really  was  very  sleepy — while  he  went 
to  the  stables  to  see  to  the  horses. 

It  was  about  midnight  when  he  returned.  He 
looked  very  tired,  like  one  who  has  had  a  great 
deal  of  bustling  about.  He  was  alone  in  the  draw- 
ing room,  so  he  stirred  up  the  fire,  lit  a  cigar  and 
waited  in  silence. 

At  half  past  two  Mr.  Gerzson  rang  the  gate- 
bell  ;  he  entered  the  drawing-room  very  boister- 
ously like  one  resolved  to  wake  up  the  whole 
house.  A  little  coffer  hung  upon  his  stunted  arm, 
in  the  other  hand  he  carried  a  double-barrelled 
gun,  and  from  a  pouch,  fastened  by  straps  to  his 
shoulder,  peeped  forth  two  four-barrelled  pistols. 

"Why,  plague  take  it!"  laughed  Hátszegi,  "you 
are  armed  for  a  whole  guerilla  warfare." 

"No  more  than  Fatia  Negra  deserves,"  replied 
Mr.  Gerzson  with  a  sombre  grimace.  "Is  your 
wife  up  and  dressed  ?" 


WHO  RECOGNIZED  FATIA  NEGRA 


277 


"I  fancy  she  lay  down  ready  dressed." 

"All  the  better.  It'll  be  as  well  if  we  start 
early." 

"I  hear  the  opening  and  closing  of  doors  in  her 
apartments,  no  doubt  your  ringing  disturbed  her. 
She  will  be  here  in  an  instant,  for  she  is  very  im- 
patient." 

"That  is  only  natural." 

"And  in  the  meantime,  let  us  have  something  to 
strengthen  the  heart,"  said  Hátszegi  producing  a 
flask  of  sj^ihapalmka*  and  filling  his  own  and  iiis 
guest's  glass.  "If  you  have  a  chance  of  shooting 
Fatia  Negra,  you  must  give  me  one  half  of  the 
thousand  ducats  set  upon  his  head,  because  I  have 
abandoned  this  fine  opportunity  to  you." 

At  this  Mr.  Gerzson  coughed. 

"I  have  also  provided  you  with  a  good  wooden 
flask  of  Hegyalja,"  \  said  Leonard,  taking  from 
the  sideboard  a  handsome  flask  bound  in  foal-skin. 

"Therein  you  acted  wisely." 

"All  this  side  of  the  Theiss  you  will  get  no 
drinkable  water,  and  Henrietta  always  gets  ague 
at  once  if  the  water  is  bad.  Although  but  a  child, 
she  will  never  take  any  wine  unless  you  force  her 
to  do  so.  I  earnestly  beg  of  you  to  take  great  care 
of  her.  I  don't  like  this  journey  a  bit.  A  letter 
would  have  done  the  business  just  as  well;  but  I 
make  it  a  rule  never  to  thwart  her  when  she  gets 
these  ideas  into  her  head.  All  I  say  is :  take  care 
of  her." 


*  Hunfcarian  cherrv  brandy. 
+  A  species  of  Tokay. 


278  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

"I'll  watch  over  her  as  if  she  were  my  own 
child." 

In  a  quarter  of  an  hour  Henrietta  appeared  in 
full  travelling  costume.  The  lacquey  brought  in 
breakfast.  The  gentlemen  also  sat  down  to  it  lest 
the  lady  should  breakfast  alone. 

We  shall  have  splendid  weather.  Baroness,"  ob- 
serv^ed  Mr.  Gerzson,  dipping  his  cake  into  his 
black  coffee.  "The  sky  is  full  of  stars,  we  could 
not  wish  for  better  travelling  weather." 

"The  sky  is  nice  enough,  but  the  ground  is, a  lit- 
tle stumbly,"  put  in  Hátszegi.  "Around  Domb- 
hegyhaza  in  particular  the  roads  will  spill  you  if 
vou  don't  look  out." 

"I  don't  care  a  bit,  for  I  mean  to  drive  the 
horses  myself." 

"Oh,  that  I  will  not  allow,"  said  Henrietta.  "It 
is  no  joke  to  hold  the  reins,  for  hours  at  a  stretch, 
on  bad  roads." 

"I  do  it  because  I  like  it,  your  ladyship.  You 
know  I  love  my  pipe,  and  how  can  I  smoke  it  in  a 
covered  carriage?" 

Shortly  aftei'wards  Mr.  Gerzson  asked  leave  to 
go  out  and  inspect  the  coach  and  the  coachman, 
and  after  closely  investigating  everything  and 
wrangling  a  little  with  the  coachman,  purely  from 
traditional  habit,  just  to  show  the  fellow  that  he 
understood  all  about  it,  he  ascended  to  the  draw- 
ing-room again  and  announced  that  the  horses 
had  been  put  to. 

Hátszegi  helped  his  wife  to  adjust  her  mantle 


WHO  RECOGNIZED  FATIA  I^^iEGRA   279 

over  her  shoulders,  and  impressed  a  cold  kiss  upon 
her  forehead.  Henrietta  once  more  thanked  him 
warmly  for  being  so  good  to  her  and  allowed  Mr. 
Gerzson  to  escort  her  down  the  steps.  The  old 
gentleman,  however,  would  not  allow  himself  to 
be  persuaded  to  take  his  place  in  the  carriage  by 
her  side.  His  hands  itched  to  hold  the  reins  and 
he  would,  he  said,  be  sure  to  go  to  sleep  and  make 
himself  a  nuisance  if  he  sat  inside.  So  he  had  his 
way,  and  indeed  in  all  the  Hungarian  plain  a  more 
adroit  and  careful  driver  could  not  have  been 
found. 

Gradually  the  night  began  to  die  away  and  the 
sky  began  to  grow  lighter  behind  the  mountains 
of  Bihar,  which  they  had  now  left  behind  them. 
The  smaller  stars  vanished  in  groups  before  the 
brightening  twilight;  only  the  larger  constella- 
tions still  sparkled  through  the  dawn.  Presently 
a  hue  of  burning  pink  lit  up  the  sky  and  long 
straight  strips  of  cloud  swam,  like  golden  ribbons, 
before  the  rising  sun  whose  increasing  radiance 
already  lit  up  the  broad  cupolas  of  the  dark  moun- 
tains. Before  the  travellers  extended  the  endless 
plain  of  the  Alföld,*  like  a  bridge  rising  from  her 
bed  to  greet  her  beloved  Lord,  the  Sun. 

On  Mr.  Gerzson,  however,  the  romantic  spec- 
tacle of  sunrise  on  the  puszta  produced  no  ro- 
mantic impression  whatsoever.  He  neither  ob- 
served the  golden  clouds  in  the  sky,  nor  the  dap- 
pled shadows  flitting  across  the  dewy  fields,  nor 


♦  The  great  Hungarian  plain. 


28o  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

the  lilac-coloured  nebulous  horizon.  He  saw  none 
of  these  things,  I  say,  but  he  saw  something  else 
which  did  not  please  him  at  all. 

"I  say,  Joska,  the  right  leader  is  limping." 

"Yes,  it  certainly  is,"  replied  the  coachman. 

"Get  down  and  see  what's  the  matter." 

The  coachman  got  down,  lifted  the  horse's  leg, 
brushed  away  the  dust  from  around  the  hoof  and 
said  with  the  air  of  a  connoisseur:  "This  horse's 
hoof  has  been  pricked." 

"What  the  devil  ...  !"  rang  out  Mr.  Gerzson, 
but  there  he  stopped,  for  it  is  not  becoming  to 
curse  and  swear  when  a  lady  is  in  the  carriage  be- 
hind you,  even  if  she  does  not  hear. 

Meanwhile  the  coachman  mounted  up  beside 
him  and  they  drove  on  again. 

"Well  we  cannot  drive  that  horse  much  fur- 
ther," grumbled  Mr.  Gerzson,  "the  other  three 
must  pull  the  carriage.  At  Csongrád  we  must 
get  another  to  take  its  place  and  leave  it  behind 
there." 

A  long  discussion  thereupon  ensued  between 
him  and  the  coachman  as  to  the  clumsiness  of 
smiths  in  general,  who  when  they  pare  away  a 
horse's  hoofs  in  order  to  shoe  it,  so  often  cut  into 
the  living  flesh,  which  is  very  dangerous,  and  is 
technically  known  as  "pricking." 

They  had  scarce  proceeded  for  more  than  an- 
other half  hour  when  Mr.  Gerzson  again  began  to 
cast  suspicious  glances  down  from  the  box-seat. 


WHO  RECOGNIZED  FATIA  NEGRA   281 

"I  say,  Joska,"  he  cried  at  last,  "it  seems  to  me 
the  left  leader,  the  whip  horse,  is  also  limping." 

Down  leaped  the  coachman,  examined  the 
horse's  foot  and  pronounced  that  the  hoof  of  the 
left  leader  had  also  been  pricked, 

"Devil  take  ...  !"  cried  Mr.  Gerzson,  but  once 
more  he  did  not  enlighten  the  devil  as  to  the  par- 
ticular individual  he  was  desirous  of  drawing  his 
attention  to. 

"Well,  I  suppose  we  must  go  on  as  best  wc  can 
with  two  horses  now,  for  the  first  two  are  good 
for  nothing."  And  in  the  spirit  of  a  true  driver 
he  stuck  his  whip  beneath  him,  as  being  a  thing 
for  which  there  was  now  no  further  use,  and  re- 
sumed his  argument  with  the  coachman  about  the 
inefficiency  of  smiths  in  general. 

"As  soon  as  we  reach  Orosháza,  we'll  get  two 
fresh  horses ;  we  ought  to  oe  getting  there  now." 

Yet  the  steeple  of  Orosháza  was,  as  yet,  scarcely 
visible  and  midday  was  already  approaching. 
There  was  no  intermediate  station  where  they 
could  change  horses. 

Half  an  hour  later  ]\Ir.  Gerzson  dashed  his  clay 
pipe  against  the  wheel  of  the  coach  and  swore  that 
he  would  be  damned  if  ever  such  a  silly-fool 
thing  had  ever  befallen  him  before,  for  now  the 
thill  horse  also  began  to  limp. 

Naturally,  that  also  was  found  to  have  been 
pricked. 

"May  the  devil  take  all  those  scamps  of  smiths 
ivho  look  after  the  poor  beasts  so  badly !    A  pretty 


282  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

fix  we  are  in  now.  We  may  thank  our  stars  if 
we  are  able  to  crawl  into  Orosháza  before  night- 
fall. A  pretty  amble  we  shall  have  now,  I'll  be 
bound." 

And  indeed  ambling  was  about  all  they  could 
do.  As  for  the  Orosháza  steeple,  so  far  from 
drawing  any  nearer,  it  seemed  to  be  travelling 
away  from  them,  and  with  very  much  better 
horses  than  they  had.  It  seemed  to  get  further 
off  every  moment. 

"Well,  all  we  want  now  is  for  the  saddle  horse 
also  to  throw  up  the  sponge  and  we  shall  be  com- 
plete." 

If  that  were  Mr.  Gerzson's  one  remaining  wish, 
Fate  very  speedily  granted  it  to  him,  for  they  had 
not  gone  another  quarter  of  an  hour  when  all  four 
horses  began  to  limp  together,  one  with  the  right 
foot,  another  with  the  left,  the  third  with  the  fore 
and  the  fourth  with  the  hind  leg,  till  it  was  posi- 
tively frightful  to  look  at  them. 

Mr.  Gerzson  leaped  from  the  box,  and  in  his 
rage  and  fury  dashed  his  pipe-stem  into  a  thou- 
sand pieces. 

"What  can  the  smith  have  been  about !"  whined 
the  coachman  shaking  his  head,  "  and  yet  his  lord- 
ship had  a  look  at  them  too !" 

"Devil  take  your  smith,  and  his  lordship  also 
for  the  matter  of  that.  The  whole  lot  of  you 
deserves  hanging."  And  it  was  a  good  thing  for 
the  coachman  that  he  happened  to  be  standing  on 
the  other  side  of  the  horses,  as  otherwise  he  would 


WHO  RECOGNIZED  FATIA  NEGRA   283 

certainly  have  had  a  taste  of  Squire  Gerzson's  rid- 
ing whip. 

Henrietta,  who  had  hitherto  been  sleeping 
quietly  in  the  carriage,  aroused  by  the  loud  voices, 
put  her  head  out  of  the  window  and  timidly  in- 
quired what  was  the  matter.  At  the  first  sound 
of  her  voice,  Squire  Gerzson  grew  as  mild  as  a 
lamb. 

"Nothing  much,"  said  he.  "I  have  only  been 
trying  to  put  together  again  my  broken  pipe- 
stem,  the  carriage-wheel  has  gone  over  my  pipe, 
that  is  all." 

"But  where  are  we  now?"  asked  Henrietta, 
peeping  curiously  out  of  the  carriage.  Then  of 
course  they  had  to  tell  her  the  truth. 

"We  are  three  leagues  from  the  station  in  front 
of  us,  and  about  four  from  the  one  behind  us,  and 
there  is  no  prospect  of  our  getting  on  any  further. 
All  four  horses  are  lame,  they  have  been  dam- 
aged during  the  shoeing." 

"What  steeple  is  that  in  front  of  us?" 

"Orosháza,  I  fancy,  but  with  these  four  lame 
horses  I  don't  believe  w^e  shall  get  there  before 
midnight." 

Henrietta  perceived  the  confusion  of  the  old 
gentleman,  who  for  sheer  rage  and  worry  could 
not  keep  his  hat  on  his  burning  head,  so  she  tried 
to  comfort  him. 

"Never  mind,  dear  papa  Gerzson,  not  far  from 
here  must  lie  Leonard's  csárda.  You  and  I,  papa 
Gerzson,  might  go  on  there  with  the  horses  while 


284  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

the  coachman  makes  the  best  of  his  way  on  foot 
to  Orosháza,  where  he  can  get  fresh  horses  and 
join  us  early  in  the  morning  at  the  csárda. 

Squire  Gerzson  jerked  his  head  significantly. 

"I  don't  want  to  alarm  you,  my  dear  Baroness," 
said  he,  "but  that  csárda  lies  in  the  beat  of  the 
"poor  vagabonds" — you  may  have  heard  of 
them." 

"Oh,  I  have  spent  a  night  there  already.  I 
know  the  innkeeper's  wife.  She  is  a  very  good 
sort  of  woman,  who  told  us  tales  all  night  long 
while  she  worked  her  distaff  at  my  bedside.  I 
should  very  much  like  to  see  her  again.  Besides, 
I  know  the  "poor  vagabonds"  also.  All  of  them 
kissed  my  hand  in  turn  when  I  was  there.  If, 
however,  anybody  should  be  rude  to  me,  have  I 
not  papa  Gerzson? — when  he  is  by  I  fear  no- 
body." 

"Noble  heart ! — very  well,  be  it  so !  If  your 
ladyship  fears  nothing,  I  think  I  may  very  well 
say  the  same." 

Whereupon  Squire  Gerzson  gave  the  coachman 
two  florins  to  speed  him  on  to  Orosháza,  where  he 
was  to  get  fresh  horses  and  come  on  the  same 
night  to  the  csárda,  so  that  they  might  be  able  to 
set  off  again  before  dawn  on  the  morrow.  He 
himself  then  quitted  the  highroad  in  the  direction 
of  the  well-known  csárda  which,  with  sound 
horses,  he  might  have  reached  in  about  an  hour, 
but  which  with  lame  ones  he  only  got  up  to  to- 
wards evening,  ha\'ing  repeatedly  to  rest  on  the 


WHO  RECOGNIZED  FATIA  NEGRA   285 

way.  Squire  Gerzson  kept  on  asking  Henrietta 
whether  she  was  hungry  or  thirsty  and  offered 
her  his  flask  again  and  again ;  but  she  always  gen- 
tly declined  it,the  old  man  feeling  in  honour  bound 
to  follow  her  example.  lie  comforted  her,  how- 
ever, with  the  assurance  that  the  csárdd-womsin 
was  a  dab  hand  at  turning  out  all  sorts  of  good  old 
savoury  Hungarian  dishes. 

At  last,  after  a  weary  journey,  when  evening 
was  already  closing  upon  them,  Henrietta  per- 
ceived the  csárda  gleaming  white  behind  the  aca- 
cia trees.  When  they  stumbled  into  the  courtyard 
they  found  nobody,  and  nobody  came  out  of  the 
door  to  meet  them. 

"All  the  better,  nobody  will  see  these  game-leg- 
ged nags,"  growled  Squire  Gerzson  as  he  helped 
Henrietta  out  of  the  carriage. 

"It  is  odd  that  the  woman  of  the  inn  does  not 
come  out  to  meet  me,"  said  Henrietta.  "She  liked 
me  so.    How  pleased  she  will  be  to  see  me." 

Nevertheless  no  one  came.  Squire  Gerzson 
grew  impatient.  He  could  not  leave  the  coach 
and  horses  all  by  themselves. 

"Hie !  somebody !  Who's  at  home  ?  Landlady, 
wenches,  or  whoever  you  are,  can't  you  creep  out 
of  your  hole  ?" 

In  reply  to  his  hallooing,  a  hoarse  voice  re- 
sounded from  the  taproom:  "Who  is  it?  Can't 
you  come  inside  instead  of  standing  and  bawling 
there?" 

"What,  you  scoundrel !    Come  out  this  instant, 


286  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

Sirrah,  do  you  hear,  or  do  you  want  me  to  come 
and  fetch  you?" 

At  this  categorical  command,  the  speaker  in- 
side made  his  appearance.  Henrietta  recognized 
him  at  once,  though  Squire  Gerzson  saw  him  now 
for  the  first  time.     It  was  old  Ripa. 

"I  am  a  guest  here  myself,"  said  he. 

"Thou  blockhead!  by  the  soul  of  thy  father  I 
charge  thee — where  is  the  hostess  ?" 

"She  is  outside  in  the  cool  air." 

"What  is  she  doing  there?" 

"She  is  guarding  the  moles" — which  means  in 
the  flowery  language  of  the  puszta:  "she  is  dead." 

"Surely  she  is  not  dead?" 

"Yes — she  did  away  with  herself." 

"When?" 

"The  day  before  yesterday." 

"What  was  the  matter  with  her?" 

"She  drank  too  much  water." 

"Where?" 

"In  the  hurdle  well." 

"Why?" 

"Because  her  feet  did  not  reach  the  bottom." 

"She  leaped  in  then  ?" 

"It  looks  something  like  it." 

"But  why  did  she  do  so?" 

"She  was  much  upset  about  her  lover." 

"Did  he  leave  her?" 

"The  rope-girl*  took  him." 

Henrietta  listened  with  a  sort  of  stupefaction 


*  I.e.,  the  gallows. 


WHO  RECOGNIZED  FATIA  NEGRA   287 

to  the  cynical  answers  of  the  old  scoundrel,  and 
her  heart  grew  heavy  within  her.  To  think  that 
that  merry,  rosy  cheeked  young  woman  should 
have  killed  herself  out  of  grief  for  her  lover. 

"Then  who  is  carrying  on  the  house?"  enquired 
Squire  Gerzson. 

"Nobody.  All  the  servants  bolted  after  the 
funeral,  in  order  that  they  might  not  appear  as 
witnesses." 

"Then  why  do  you  remain  here  all  alone?" 

"Because  if  I  went  on  my  way,  everyone  would 
be  sure  to  say  that  I  had  murdered  the  hostess,  I 
mean  to  remain  here  till  they  come  for  me." 

"Yes,  you  old  swine,  and  drink  up  every  drop 
of  wine  that  remains  in  the  meantime." 

"Your  pardon,  sir,  but  it  all  turned  to  vinegar 
when  the  landlady  killed  herself.  That  is  always 
the  case." 

"None  of  your  nonsense.  Sirrah,  but  listen  to 
me.  There's  a  shilling  for  you,  forget  for  the 
time  that  you  are  a  guest  here.  Take  out  the 
horses,  put  them  into  the  stable,  give  them  hay 
at  once  and  water  them  in  about  an  hour's  time. 
Don't  steal  them  for  they  are  lame  and  you  would 
be  caught  at  once.  We  shall  remain  here  till  our 
coachman  returns  with  four  fresh  horses.  Should 
any  troublesome  person  look  in,  you  may  tell  him 
that  the  consort  of  Baron  Hátszegi  is  here  and 
that  Gerzson  of  Satrakovics  is  mounting  guard 
before  her  door." 

Old  Ripa  kissed  her  ladyship's  hand  without 


288  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

so  much  as  thanking  Squire  Gerzson  for  his  tip, 
but  he  quietly  unyoked  the  horses  and  brought  into 
the  house  some  of  the  things  he  found  in  the  coach. 

And  Henrietta  stood  once  more  in  the  land- 
lady's room  and  gazed  pensively  out  of  the  win- 
dow. Her  meditations  were  presently  disturbed 
by  Squire  Gerzson, 

"My  dear  good  lady,"  he  began,  "fate  has  cer- 
tainly sworn  to  be  our  enemy  in  every  possible 
way  to-day.  I  would  not  have  believed  it  myself 
if  I  had  not  actually  experienced  it.  First  of  all, 
all  our  four  horses  fall  lame  on  the  road.  Then, 
at  the  very  place  where  we  decide  to  take  up  our 
quarters,  we  find  that  the  landlady  has  jumped 
down  the  well.  Truly  fate  pursues  us  with  a  ven- 
geance. But  v^^e'U  defy  it,  won't  we  my  lady? 
Fate  is  very  much  mistaken  if  it  fancies  it  will  get 
the  better  of  us,  eh  ?  It  does  not  know  with  whom 
it  has  to  deal,  I'll  be  bound.  For  our  hearts  are 
in  the  right  place  and  we'll  pretty  soon  show  that 
we  have  not  lost  our  heads.  Our  greatest  misfor- 
tune is  that  the  fine  supper  we  promised  ourselves 
has  vanished  to  dust  beneath  our  very  noses. 
Never  mind.  We  have  brought  with  us  in  our 
knapsack,  after  the  custom  of  our  ancestors,  some 
good  ham,  some  hung  beef  and  some  white  loaves, 
to  say  nothing  of  a  flask  of  prime  wine ;  we  don't 
mean  to  starve  ourselves  do  we,  my  lady?" 

The  good  old  gentleman  then  took  out  of  his 
knapsack  all  these  good  things  and  piled  them 
up  on  the  table,  then  he  fetched  the  carriage  lamp 


WHO  RECOGNIZED  FATIA  NEGRA   289 

to  light  up  the  room  a  bit  and  poHtely  invited 
Henrietta  to  partake  of  his  simple  banquet. 

The  young  lady  smilingly  took  her  place  on  the 
bench. 

"We  really  cannot  drink  the  water  here,  your 
ladyship,"  said  Gerzson,  handing  her  his  flask; 
"to  all  appearance  nobody  will  ever  drink  the 
water  out  of  the  well  of  this  shanty  again.  Such 
wells  are  generally  walled  up." 

Merely  to  oblige  the  old  man,  Henrietta  raised 
the  flask  to  her  lips  and  pretended  to  drink  out  of 
it  so  as  not  to  spoil  her  companion's  good  hu- 
mour, but  really  she  drank  not  a  drop.  She  never 
used  to  drink  wine  and  wiped  off  the  drops  that 
remained  on  her  lips  with  her  pocket  handker- 
chief. Nor  did  she  eat  anything  except  an  apple 
which  was  just  sufficient  to  keep  the  pangs  of 
hunger  off. 

Mr.  Gerzson,  however,  fell  to  like  a  man.  He 
had  generally  a  good  appetite,  and  the  lack  of  a 
dinner,  the  worry  and  trouble  of  the  journey,  and 
the  labour  of  driving  had  made  him  hungrier 
than  ever.  He  cut  such  whacking  slices  off  the 
loaf  and  off  the  good  red  ham  beside  him  that  it 
was  a  joy  to  watch  him;  after  he  had  raised  the 
cluck-clucker*  to  his  lips,  his  conversation  became 
so  entertaining  that  Henrietta  listened  to  hirn 
with  delight. 

"But  now  I  am  not  going  to  drink  any  more," 
said  Mr.  Gerzson  at  last,  "for  it  is  apt  to  make  me 

*  /.  e.,  the  v/ine-flask. 


290  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

sleepy  and  I  don't  want  to  sleep  to-night.  About 
midnight  the  coachman  will  arrive  with  the  fresh 
relay  of  horses.  Won't  your  ladyship  rest  a  lit- 
tle in  the  adjoining  room  ?" 

Henrietta  shook  her  head. 

"Well,  I  suppose  you  are  right.  How  in- 
deed could  you  remain  all  alone  in  the  room  of  a 
suicide?  Let  us  stay  together  then  and  tell  each 
other  tales." 

"Yes,  that  will  be  nice,  and  I'll  begin  by  telling 
papa  Gerzson  something." 

"I  could  go  on  listening  to  you  till  morning,  it 
will  be  like  the  angels  singing  in  my  ears." 

So  Henrietta  began  to  tell  him  all  about  the 
dead  hostess  and  about  her  love,  and  also  the 
story  of  the  robber  who  was  hanged  for  his  com- 
panion. 

Mr.  Gerzson,  with  his  head  supported  by  his 
hand,  listened  religiously  and  struck  himself  vio- 
lently on  the  mouth  when  he  was  seized  by  an  in- 
voluntary fit  of  gaping. 

"I  cannot  understand  why  I  am  so  sleepy, — my 
eyes  seem  to  be  closing  in  spite  of  me." 

"Why  don't  you  have  a  pipe  then?  Come  light 
up!" 

"What,  light  up?  Your  ladyship  will  really  al- 
low me?  You  are  sure  you  don't  mind  tobacco 
smoke?  You  are  indeed  a  blessed  creature.  But 
are  you  sure  it  won't  make  your  head  ache?" 

"On  the  contrary,  I  like  tobacco  smoke." 


WHO  RECOGNIZED  FATIA  NEGRA   291 

Squire  Gerzson  half  drew  out  his  cigar  case, 
but  he  immediately  shoved  it  back  again. 

"No,  I  won't  smoke  a  cigar.  One  ought  not 
to  abuse  one's  good  fortune.  I  shall  get  on  well 
enough." 

Then  Henrietta  began  to  tell  him  of  Fatia  Ne- 
gra's  Transylvanian  exploits,  of  the  Lucsia  Cav- 
ern, of  the  capture  of  the  coiners — and  then  she 
observed  that  Mr.  Gerzson's  eyelids  were  sinking 
lower  and  lower  and  he  was  nodding  his  head  vio- 
lently. 

"Now  you  really  must  light  up,  papa  Gerzson," 
she  cried,  "or  you'll  never  be  able  to  keep  awake." 

On  being  thus  accosted,  Mr.  Gerzson  bobbed  up 
his  head  with  a  frightened  air  and  rubbed  his  eyes, 
like  one  who  has  been  suddenly  aroused  from 
slumber  and  knows  not  what  is  going  on  under  his 
very  nose. 

"I  am  not  asleep,  'pon  my  word  I'm  not.  I 
was  only  nodding  a  little." 

"Light  a  cigar." 

"No  I  won't.  I  prefer  to  go  out  and  have  a  turn 
in  the  open  air  and  get  the  cobwebs  out  of  my 
head.    I'll  have  a  look  round  outside  a  bit." 

And  with  that  he  planted  both  his  arms  on  the 
table,  laid  his  head  upon  them  and  fell  fast  asleep. 

Henrietta  could  not  help  smiling.  Poor  old 
gentleman,  he  had  had  a  good  deal  of  exertion  and 
no  doubt  that  wine  was  uncommonly  strong.  Let 
him  rest  a  bit.    He  had  had  no  sleep  the  night  be- 


292  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

fore.  It  would  be  quite  sufficient  if  one  of  them 
kept  awake. 

Then  she  took  up  the  lamp  and  went  out  into 
the  hall  observing  to  her  great  satisfaction  that 
the  door  thereof  was  provided  with  a  good  lock. 
So  she  locked  and  fastened  it.  With  timid  curi- 
osity she  then  explored  every  corner  with  the  lamp 
and  came  upon  nothing  suspicious.  Finally  she 
returned  to  the  guest  room,  locked  the  door  of 
that  also  and  placed  the  carriage  lamp  on  the  ta- 
ble, turning  its  shade  towards  the  sleeping  old 
man  so  that  he  might  not  be  awakened  by  the 
glare  of  the  lamp;  and  there  she  remained  all 
alone,  watching  in  the  csárda  of  the  desolate 
puszta,  patiently  waiting  for  the  night  to  pass 
over  her  homeless  head. 

So  patient  was  she  that  only  once  did  she  take 
her  watch  from  her  bosom  to  see  what  the  time 
was. 

******* 

It  was  now  past  rhidnight. 

She  began  to  calculate  how  long  it  would  take 
the  coachman  to  get  to  Orosháza  and  how  much 
time  he  would  require  to  reach  this  place.  If  he 
had  got  horses  at  once  he  ought  to  be  near  now. 

A  short  time  afterwards  she  heard  the  tread  of 
horses'  feet  in  the  courtyard.  Those  must  be  our 
horses,  thought  she,  and  hastening  to  the  window 
looking  out  upon  the  courtyard,  she  pulled  the 
blind  a  little  to  one  side  and  looked  out. 

The  night  was  so  light  outside  that  she  could 


WHO  RECOGNIZED  FATIA  NEGRA   293 

see  the  four  horses  quite  plainly  in  the  courtyard 
— but  she  observed  that  a  man  was  sitting  on  each 
of  them. 

'This  is  very  curious,"  thought  she,  "tzvo  men 
would  have  been  quite  sufficient  to  bring  along 
the  relay." 

Three  of  the  four  men  dismounted  from  their 
horses  and  a  fifth  came  out  of  the  stable  and  had 
a  short  consultation  with  them ;  then  the  three  ap- 
proached the  csárda  door  and  tried  to  open  it. 

This  struck  Henrietta  as  suspicious  and  she 
thought  it  was  now  high  time  to  awake  Mr.  Gerz- 
son. 

"Pardon,  papa  Gerzson,  but  four  men  have  ar- 
rived here." 

Still  Mr.  Gerzson  did  not  awake. 

Henrietta  approached,  bent  over  him  and  gen- 
tly insisted : 

'  'My  dear  papa  Gerzson,  just  wake  up  for  a 
moment,  somebody  wants  to  come  in." 

Even  then  Mr.  Gerzson  did  not  awake. 

Henrietta  listened.  Outside,  the  hall  door  was 
beginning  to  groan  and  rock.  They  were  forcing 
it. 

Full  of  terror  now,  she  seized  Mr.  Gerzson's 
arm. 

"Sir,  sir !  robbers  are  upon  us.  Awake,  awake. 
This  is  no  time  for  slumber." 

But  Mr.  Gerzson  still  slumbered  on — he  might 
have  been  dead.    In  vain  she  tore  him  awav  from 


294  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

the  table,  he  fell  back  again  all  of  a  heap  and  went 
on  slumbering. 

The  strangers  were  now  in  the  hall,  and  a  heavy 
hand  was  trying  the  latch  of  the  guest  chamber. 

*'My  God,  my  God!"  moaned  Henrietta,  wring- 
ing her  hands  and  rushing  up  and  down  the  room, 
terrorstricken,  not  knowing  where  to  look  now 
for  refuge. 

A  violent  thud  resounded  against  the  door. 
Someone  had  placed  his  shoulder  against  it.  Hen- 
rietta clung  to  the  table  to  save  herself  from  fall- 
ing. 

At  last  the  lock  burst,  the  door  flew  open,  and 
Fatia  Negra  with  two  masked  companions  stood 
before  the  lady.  The  same  instant  Henrietta  re- 
covered her  presence  of  mind.  At  a  pace's  dis- 
tance from  danger  she  ceased  to  tremble  and 
calmly  addressed  them:     *'What  do  you  want?" 

"Why  are  you  not  asleep  now  like  your  com- 
panion?" enquired  Fatia  Negra  in  a  low  voice. 

One  of  his  comrades  approached  the  sleeper  and 
held  the  barrel  of  his  pistol  to  his  temples.  In 
Fatia  Negra's  hand  there  was  only  a  dagger. 

"Don't  wake  him,"  he  whispered  to  Henrietta, 
"for  if  he  should  but  raise  his  head  his  brains  will 
be  blown  out." 

"Do  him  no  harm!"  implored  the  lady.  "I 
will  give  you  everything  you  want.  Here  is  my 
pocketbook,  here  are  my  jewels,  and  you  shall 
have  my  watch  too.     See,  I  will  draw  off  my 


WHO  RECOGNIZED  FATIA  NEGRA   295 

rings,  only  don't  touch  me.  But  if  possible  let  me 
keep  this  round  ring  for  it  is  my  wedding  ring." 

"All  that  is  nothing,"  whispered  Fatia  Negra, 
"nor  do  we  want  these  things.  Your  ladyship 
has  received  a  bill  for  40,000  florins  from  your 
husband ;  give  up  that  and  swear  that  you  will  not 
say  anything  about  it  to  anyone  for  three  days  so 
that  we  may  have  time  to  turn  it  into  cash." 

At  the  mention  of  the  bill  Henrietta  felt  her 
head  reel,  the  blood  stood  still  in  her  veins,  she 
could  scarce  keep  her  feet.  Her  voice  trembled 
as  she  lied  to  the  robber  denying  that  she  had  any 
such  thing. 

"We  will  search  you,  my  lady,  if  you  do  not 
give  it  up  voluntarily." 

Henrietta  persisted  in  her  falsehood:  "I  have 
nothing  upon  me.  I  posted  it  in  order  that  it 
might  get  to  its  destination  more  safely." 

"My  lady,  you  are  only  wasting  our  time.  Turn 
round,  take  that  steel  netting  out  of  your  puffed 
sleeves  and  hand  it  over  to  us." 

At  these  words,  all  the  blood  flew  to  Henriet- 
ta's head.  It  was  no  longer  fear  but  the  fury  of 
despair  that  possessed  her.  It  suddenly  occurred 
to  her  that  here  was  the  man  whom  nobody  had 
ever  recognized ;  the  man  who  had  made  so  many 
people  unhappy ;  who  had  robbed  her  husband  and 
would  now  stifle  her  last  hope  of  saving  her 
brother  from  disgrace.  Who  could  this  terrible 
man,  this  accursed  wretch,  be?  And  so,  as  Black 
Mask  drew  near  to  her,  flashing  his  dagger  before 


296  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

her  eyes,  she,  the  weakest,  the  most  timid  of 
women,  made  a  sudden  snatch  at  the  mask  and 
tore  it  off 

She  saw  his  face  and  recognized  him.     .     .     . 

For  an  instant  her  eyes  gazed  upon  him  and 
then  she  collapsed  on  the  ground  in  a  swoon. 

It  was  pretty  late  next  morning  when  Mr.  Gerz- 
son  raised  his  muddled  head  from  the  table.  The 
sun  was  shining  brightly  through  the  blinds. 

He  looked  around  him.    He  was  quite  alone. 

He  looked  for  Henrietta,  he  called  her  by  name. 
She  was  nowhere  to  be  seen.  Their  luggage  had 
also  disappeared.  He  went  into  the  courtyard  and 
looked  for  the  carriage.  That  also  was  nowhere 
to  be  seen.  Only  the  four  horses  were  in  the  sta- 
ble, and  they  were  neighing  for  water;  nobody 
had  watered  them. 

After  that  Mr.  Gerzson's  head  grew  more  mud- 
dled than  ever. 

What  had  become  of  the  lady?  What  had  hap- 
pened during  the  night  ?  How  was  it  that  he  re- 
membered nothing  about  it,  he  who  generally  used 
to  sleep  so  lightly  that  the  humming  of  a  midge 
was  sufficient  to  awake  him  ? 

Gradually  he  bethought  him  that  the  evening 
before  he  had  drunk  some  wine  with  an  unusual 
flavour.  Even  now  he  was  conscious  of  a  pecu- 
liar taste  in  his  mouth.  Yet  no  wine  in  the  world 
had  ever  been  able  to  do  him  harm.  He  returned 
to  the  room  to  examine  the  contents  of  his  flask. 


WHO  RECOGNIZED  FATIA  NEGRA  297 

But  even  the  flask  was  now  nowhere  to  be  seen. 
There  was  not  a  single  forgotten  object,  not  a  sin- 
gle indication  to  give  him  a  clue  in  this  obscure 
confusion.  What  could  have  happened  here  ? — he 
had  not  the  faintest  idea. 

He  went  and  stood  in  front  of  the  csárda.  He 
gazed  out  upon  the  desolate  puszta  stretching 
around  him  in  every  direction.  From  every  point 
of  the  compass  wagon  tracks,  some  old,  some  still 
fresh,  zig-zagged  to  and  from  the  csárda  and  he 
could  not  make  up  his  mind  which  of  them  to  take 
in  order  to  reach  the  world  beyond. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

LEANDER    BABEROSSY 

Whenever  one  carts  away  a  heap  of  stones 
which  have  been  lying  undisturbed  for  years,  or 
whenever  one  removes  the  shingle-roof  of  an  an- 
cient tenement,  or  drains  off  the  water  from  a 
marshy  place,  one  generally  stumbles  upon  all 
sorts  of  hitherto  undiscovered,  curious  beetles, 
odd  looking  moths  and  spiral-shaped,  creeping 
things  in  these  routed  out  lurking  places,  which 
nobody  ever  saw  before  or  read  of  in  the  natural 
history  books ;  and  at  such  times  a  man  bethinks 
him  how  wonderful  it  is  of  Mother  Nature  to  pro- 
vide even  such  holes  and  corners  as  these  with 
living  inhabitants  which  never  see  the  light  of  day 
at  all. 

Once,  while  on  circuit,  Vamhidy  was  obliged  to 
lie  one  night  at  a  village  within  his  jurisdiction 
whose  inhabitants  were  a  strong  mixture  of  Hun- 
garian, Servian  and  Wallachian  ingredients.  Ar- 
riving late,  it  was  a  long  time  before  he  could  go 
to  sleep,  and  he  was  awakened  rather  late  next 
morning  by  an  unusual  hubbub.  His  bedchamber 
was  only  separated  from  the  large  drinking  room 
by  a  door  and  through  this  door  broke  every  now 
and  then  very  peculiar  sounds  the  meaning  of 

298 


LEANDER  BABEROSSY  299 

which,  on  a  first  hearing,  it  was  very  difficult  to 
explain. 

It  sounded  as  if  a  couple  of  women  and  a  couple 
of  men  were  roundly  abusing  one  another,  some- 
times in  a  low  tone  and  sometimes  in  a  loud,  and 
the  most  peculiar  thing  about  the  whole  business 
was  that  two  of  them  never  spoke  at  once  but  each 
one  of  them  allowed  each  of  the  others  to  have  his 
say  out  to  the  end.  All  at  once  the  noise  grew 
more  alarming  and  broken  outbursts  plainly  sug- 
gested that  someone  in  the  adjoining  room  wanted 
to  murder  somebody  else.  Vamhidy  leaped  from 
his  bed  and  was  about  to  intervene  when  in 
came  the  landlord  with  his  coffee. 

"What  is  that  row  going  on  next  door?"  en- 
quired Szilárd  irritably. 

"Oh,  I  cry  your  honour's  pardon,"  replied  the 
innkeeper  with  a  proud  smile,  "it  is  only  our  act-, 
ors.  They  are  rehearsing  a  new  piece  which  they 
are  going  to  act  this  evening.  I  hope  your  honour 
will  condescend  to  go  and  see  it — it  will  be  real 
fine." 

"What,  actors  in  this  village?"  cried  Szilárd  in 
amazement.     "Why,  where  do  they  come  from?" 

"Nobody  knows  where  they  came  from  or 
whither  they  mean  to  go,  your  honour." 

"How  many  of  them  are  there  then,  and  who  is 
their  manager?" 

"Well,  it  seems  that  there  is  only  one  man 
among  them  and  he  is  half  a  child ;  all  the  others 


300  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

are  women  and  girls,  even  to  the  ticket  taker  and 
the  prompter." 

"And  what  sort  of  pieces  do  they  act?" 

"Oh,  all  sorts,  your  honour.  Those  of  the 
women  who  have  the  deepest  voices  dress  up  as 
men,  stick  on  beards  and  mustaches  and  act  much 
better  than  men  would,  because  they  don't  get 
drunk." 

"And  they  are  able  to  make  a  living  here?  Who 
goes  to  the  theatre  then?" 

"Well,  the  rustics  about  here  come  if  there  is 
anything  to  grin  at.  They  don't  give  money  be- 
cause they  have  none  themselves;  but  they  bring 
corn,  potatoes,  sausages  and  hams  and  the  actors 
live  upon  the  proceeds  as  best  they  can.  When 
they  have  made  any  debts  they  cannot  pay  they 
simply  bolt  on  the  first  fine  night  and  go  some- 
where else." 

"But  don't  they  leave  their  decorations  or  their 
wardrobe  in  pledge  behind  them  ?" 

At  this  the  landlord  laughed  aloud  as  if  it  were 
a  capital  joke. 

"Decorations,  wardrobes,  indeed!  Why  their 
stage  curtain  consists  of  a  large  piece  of  thread- 
bare sackcloth  pasted  over  with  tricolored  paper 
on  which  they  have  painted  the  national  coat  of 
arms.  Their  wardrobe  too  is  of  the  very  simplest 
description.  When  they  play  a  piece  in  which 
kings  and  queens  appear,  they  borrow  the  gold 
bespangled  dresses  of  the  rich  Servian  women  of 
the  district  to  serve  them  as  royal  mantles.    All 


LEANDER  BABEROSSY  301 

they  require  besides  is  a  little  tinsel,  some  span- 
gles and  some  pasteboard — and  there  you  are! 
The  manager,  as  I  have  said,  is  still  but  a  child, 
but  so  ingenious  is  he  that  he  can  make  moon- 
shine out  of  a  yellow  gourd  and  produce  thunder 
and  lightning, — but  that  is  a  professional  secret. 
It  is  true  they  have  only  six  pieces  in  all,  and 
when  they  have  played  these  through  they  begin 
them  all  over  again.  The  public,  naturally,  does 
not  like  to  see  the  same  piece  twice,  so  the  mana- 
ger gives  the  piece  another  title,  changes  the  titles 
of  all  the  characters  and  represents  the  piece  over 
again  as  a  brand  new  one." 

*T  should  like  to  see  to-day's  representation," 
said  Szilárd,  whose  curiosity  had  been  excited  by 
this  peculiar  description. 

"I'll  fetch  your  honour  a  play  bill  imme-diately," 
said  the  innkeeper. 

Off  went  mine  host  returning  in  a  few  moments 
with  a  j\IS.  play  bill  on  which  was  written  in 
large  red  letters :  "Hernáni  or  Castilian  Hon- 
our," followed  by  the  names  of  the  personages. 
Hernáni  was  naturally  the  manager  himself.  Le- 
ander Babérossy,*  Elvira  was  to  be  played  by 
Miss  Palmira,  the  other  gentlemen  were  simply 
indicated  by  N.  N.,  X.  X.  or  *  *.  "They  are  all 
women  you  know,"  explained  the  innkeeper,  "who 
don't  want  to  advertise  their  names.  The  charge 
for  the  front  seats  is  2fd,  for  the  second-class 
places,  a  penny. 

•  /.  c,  Laurel  bearer, 


302  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

"The  gentry  can  sit  where  they  please,  I  pre- 
sume ?" 

"I  suggested  to  the  manager  that  he  should 
write  that  on  the  play  bill,  but  he  replied  that  that 
would  be  an  impertinence.  I  also  advised  him  to 
take  the  play  bill  to  your  honour  himself  and  was 
almost  kicked  out  of  the  room  for  my  pains.  Did 
I  take  him  for  a  bill  poster?  he  said." 

"This  manager  of  yours  seems  to  have  a  pretty 
good  opinion  of  himself." 

"Oh,  he  is  frightfully  proud,  your  honour.  He 
will  play  no  other  pieces  but  sword  pieces  because, 
says  he,  they  are  classical.  The  poor  fellow  is  so 
very  young  you  know.  When  he  grows  a  little 
older  and  learns  to  starve  a  bit  he  will  soon  lower 
his  crest." 

"P  like  him  none  the  less  for  holding  up  his 
head.    I  will  come  to  the  play." 

"But  you  must  be  there  at  seven  o'clock  sharp. 
He  always  begins  punctually;  whether  there  is 
any  audience  or  not." 

"The  lad  has  character,  I  see;  pray  give  him 
this" — and  he  handed  the  innkeeper  half  a  sover- 
eign. He  quickly  returned  with  the  reply  that  tlie 
manager  could  not  for  the  moment  give  change. 

"But  I  meant  him  to  keep  the  whole  of  it  as  an 
admittance  fee." 

"Ah,  yes." 

A  short  time  afterwards,  the  innkeeper  reap- 
peared with  a  whole  bundle  of  admission  tickets 
for  Szilárd,  saying  that  the  manager  thanked  him 


LEANDER  BABEROSSY  303 

for  his  sympathy,  but  as  he  was  not  in  the  habit 
of  accepting  presents  from  anyone,  he  assumed 
that  his  honour  meant  to  engage  the  whole  house 
for  himself  that  evening  and  he,  the  manager, 
would  therefore  give  a  representation  for  his  hon- 
our's sole  benefit. 

Szilárd  laughed  heartily  at  this  comical  con- 
scientiousness, and  after  dressing,  he  went  about 
his  official  business  with  as  much  dispatch  as  pos- 
sible in  order  to  arrive  at  the  play  at  seven  o'clock 
sharp,  for  he  was  now  the  whole  public  and  the 
public  ought  always  to  be  punctual. 

When  he  got  to  the  room  set  apart  for  the  per- 
formance he  found  that,  despite  the  provisional 
abonnement  suspendit  arrangement,  the  place  was 
not  quite  empty,  for  the  gratis  public,  the  lenders 
of  the  theatrical  requisites  and  their  families,  the 
letters  of  lodgings  to  the  actors  and  other  peace- 
ful creditors,  occupied  a  couple  of  benches,  so  that 
Szilárd  had  the  opportunity  of  effacing  himself 
and  thus  avoiding  confusing  the  troupe  by  his  soli- 
tary and  imposing  personality. 

No  sooner  had  the  innkeeper's  cuckoo  clock 
struck  seven  than  the  ring  of  the  prompter's  bell 
resounded  behind  the  curtain  (it  sounded  sus- 
piciously like  a  glass  struck  smartly  with  the  back 
of  a  knife)  and  by  means  of  a  highly  ingenious 
piece  of  machinery  the  drop-curtain,  stuck  over 
with  the  tricolored  cardboard  representing  the  na- 
tional flag,  was  hoisted  up  to  the  ceiling-beam, 
and  the  open  stage  was  revealed. 


304  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

The  background  was  formed  by  a  collapsible 
screen  which  was  painted  to  represent  a  room ;  in 
the  foreground  on  one  side  was  a  paper  window 
painted  black  and  white,  and  on  the  other  side  the 
cellar  door,  metamorphosed  into  the  portal  of  a 
Gothic  palace.  Through  this  entry  the  whole  of 
the  dramatis  personae  came  and  went,  for  it  was 
the  only  one. 

The  piece  acted  was,  naturally,  not  "Hernáni 
or  Castilian  Honour,"  but  Schiller's  "Robbers." 
Szilárd  recognized  it  at  the  very  first  three  words. 
He  also  noticed  that  the  characters  of  Karl  and 
Franz  Moor  were  acted  by  one  and  the  same  per- 
son (the  manager  himself,  as  he  was  informed) 
with  a  simple  change  of  voice  and  mask,  and  de- 
spite the  different  disguises  employed,  it  con- 
stantly seemed  to  Szilárd  as  if  he  had  seen  that 
caricature  of  a  face  somewhere  else  and  the  voice, 
parodied  as  it  now  was,  nevertheless  seemed  fa- 
miliar to  him.  No  less  familiar  appeared  the  vio- 
lent gestures  of  the  young  actor  which  frequently 
endangered  the  side  scenes. 

Now  as  early  as  Scene  2  the  noble  public  began 
to  be  aware  of  the  unheard  of  fraud  practiced 
upon  it ;  a  murmuring,  an  agitation,  a  whispering 
and  a  wagging  of  heads,  and  finally  an  impatient 
thumping  of  sticks  began  to  mingle  with  the  bus- 
tle of  the  drama,  till  at  last  a  worthy  cobbler,  who 
had  lent  the  troupe  three  wooden  benches  and  re- 
ceived in  return  a  free  pass  every  day,  suddenly 
bawled  out:     "Halloh  there,  Mr.  Manager!  we 


LEANDER  BABEROSSY  305 

have  seen  this  piece  once  before.  There's  poUtics 
in  it." 

Franz  Moor,  disturbed  in  his  artistic  interpre- 
tation by  this  sudden  onslaught,  suddenly  forgot 
himself,  lost  his  cue  and  answering  the  interpella- 
tor  in  his  natural,  everyday  voice  (he  knew  he 
had  only  a  free  list  public  to  deal  with)  exclaimed : 
"Whoever  has  seen  this  piece  before  and  does  not 
wish  to  see  it  again,  will  have  his  money  returned 
to  him  on  applying  at  the  ticket  office." 

These  words  were  no  sooner  uttered  than  Vam- 
hidy  leaped  from  his  seat,  rushed  upon  the  stage, 
caught  Franz  Moor  in  his  arms  and  kissed  his 
painted  face  crying  with  a  voice  trembling  wdth 
joy:  "Coloman!" 

Franz  Moor  hesitated  for  an  instant,  then  tore 
ofiF  his  Spanish  beard,  dropped  his  red  wig,  wiped 
the  painted  wrinkles  from  his  forehead  and  Szi- 
lárd saw  before  him  a  pale,  melancholy,  childish 
countenance. 

Leander  Babérossy  was  young  Coloman,  Hen- 
rietta's brother. 

The  representation  naturally  ceased  at  once. 
Szilárd  hustled  the  rediscovered  "prodigal  son" 
off  the  boards  and  never  let  him  stop  for  an  in- 
stant till  he  had  got  him  safe  and  sound  into  his 
own  private  room.  There  he  embraced  him  again, 
held  him  at  arms'  length  and  had  a  good  look  at 
him.  The  lad  seemed  to  be  twenty  years  old  at  the 
very  least,  yet  really  he  was  but  fifteen.  Play  act- 
ing, want  and  premature    shaving    soon  make  a 


3o6  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

youth  look  old.  Moreover,  in  his  whole  bearing, 
in  all  his  movements,  there  v^as  something  preco- 
cious, a  resolute,  bold  expression  which  made  one 
forget  that  he  was  a  mere  child — a  sort  of  cyni- 
cism not  pleasant  to  behold. 

Szilárd  soon  had  a  good  supper  ready  for  him, 
which  the  youth  fell  to  work  upon  without  cere- 
mony. 

"My  dear  Leander,"  said  Vamhidy  when  the 
meal  was  over,  "no  doubt  it  is  a  very  fine  thing 
when  one  can  say  that  he  is  his  own  master,  nor 
is  it  so  difficult  to  attain  to  such  a  position  after 
all.  All  that  is  wanted  is  a  strength  of  character 
always  true  to  itself.  But  you,  my  friend,  have 
committed  follies  which  might  easily  make  of  you 
something  very  different." 

Coloman  shrugged  his  shoulders. 

"I  have  committed  many  follies  no  doubt,  but 
I  do  not  call  to  mind  any  which  I  should  be  afraid 
to  confess." 

Szilárd  began  to  fancy  that  his  suspicions  were 
groundless. 

"People  are  talking  of  a  certain  bill  which  you 
have  given  in  your  sister's  name?" 

At  these  words  Coloman  cast  down  his  eyes 
upon  his  plate  and  his  whole  face  grew  blood-red. 
In  a  scarcely  audible  voice  he  enquired :  "And 
has  Henrietta  refused  to  honour  that  bill?" 

Vamhidy  sighed  deeply.  Then  it  was  really 
true  that  this  thoughtless  child  had  committed  the 


crime 


LEANDER  BABEROSSY  307 

"My  dear  Coloman,"  said  he,  dropping  the  Le- 
ander now,  "your  sister  is  the  martyr  of  her  own 
devotion.  She  was  most  certainly  ready  to  ac- 
knowledge the  bill  as  her  own ;  but  you  ought  to 
have  thought  what  sacrifices  she  will  have  to  make 
now  that  her  grandfather  has  cut  her  off  with  a 
shilling  and  her  husband  refuses  to  place  such  a 
considerable  amount  at  her  disposal." 

"Good  gracious!"  cried  the  itinerant  actor, 
thrusting  his  hands  deep  down  into  his  empty 
pockets,  "what  then  do  these  big  wigs  call  con- 
siderable amounts.  Very  well,  sir.  I  had  no  idea 
that  the  Baroness  Hátszegi  was  so  very  poor.  I 
will  try  to  recover  the  bill,  and  it  shall  be  the  first 
thing  I  will  pay  off  with  my  benefit  money." 

Szilárd  could  not  help  being  struck  by  the  terri- 
ble comicality  of  the  idea. 

"But,  my  dear  young  friend,"  said  he,  "if  you 
had  two  benefits  every  year  and  got  a  clear  forty 
florins  at  every  one  of  them,  it  would  take  you  at 
least  a  hundred  years  from  to-day  to  discharge 
the  amount." 

"What?"  cried  Coloman  with  wide  open  eyes, 
and  in  his  amazement  seizing  the  candlestick  in- 
stead of  his  fork. 

"Why,  don't  you  know  that  the  bill  is  for  40,- 
000  florins?" 

"What  ?"  thundered  the  young  vagabond.  And 
kicking  aside  his  chair,  he  snatched  up  a  knife  ly- 
ing by  the  side  of  his  plate  and,  bareheaded  as  he 
was,  rushed  towards  the  door.     Szilárd  had  need 


3o8  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

of  all  his  dexterity  to  catch  him  before  he  reached 
it  and  prevent  him  from  rushing  into  the  street 
like  a  madman. 

"Let  me  murder  him,  let  me  murder  that  vil- 
lain," he  cried. 

Szilárd  was  a  strong  man  so  he  easily  disarmed 
the  youth. 

Then  Coloman  began  to  weep  and  fling  himself 
on  the  ground.  Szilárd  seized  him  by  the  arm 
and  hoisted  him  on  to  a  chair  again. 

"Be  a  man!"  he  cried.  "Of  whom  do  you 
speak? — whom  do  you  want  to  kill?" 

"That  villain  Margari." 

"Then  it  was  he  who  persuaded  you  to  take 
this  step  ?" 

"I  will  tell  you  all  about  it,  sir,  and  you  shall 
judge  me.  When  I  left  my  grandfather's  house, 
that  Satan  sought  me  out,  affected  sympathy  for 
me  and  asked  me  what  I  meant  to  do.  I  told  him 
I  intended  to  go  on  the  stage  and  he  said  I  did 
well  not  to  remain  there.  I  had  only  a  florin 
which  I  borrowed  from  one  of  the  lacqueys,  and  I 
told  this  devil  that  I  should  require  20  florins  at 
the  very  least.  He  promised  to  get  them  for  me 
from  a  usurer  but  told  me  I  should  have  to  give  a 
bill  for  forty.  Do  you  think  I  cared  what  I 
signed  then  ?  Not  long  afterwards  he  came  back 
again  and  said  the  usurer  would  give  nothing  on 
the  strength  of  my  signature,  because  I  was  a  mi- 
nor, but  that  if  my  sister's  name  stood  upon  the 
bill  he  would  advance  upon  that  because  she  was  a 


LEANDER  BABEROSSY  309 

married  woman.  Margari  persuaded  me  to  sign 
the  bill  in  her  name.  What  was  forty  florins  to 
Henrietta  ?  he  said,  a  mere  trifle.  If  I  were  to  ask 
her,  she  would  give  me  twice  as  much.  Surely 
she  would  not  proclaim  me,  whom  she  loved  so 
much,  a  forger  for  the  sake  of  a  paltry  40  florins  ? 
But  40,000  florins,  40,000 ! — that  is  a  frightful,  a 
horrible  villainy.    I  only  made  it  forty." 

And  with  that  he  began  to  dash  his  head  against 
the  wall  like  a  madman. 

"My  dear  Coloman,  do  pull  yourself  together," 
said  Szilárd,  "what  you  have  just  told  me  is  of 
the  very  greatest  importance.  Be  quiet  and  don't 
tear  out  your  hair !  Are  you  aware  that  your  in- 
finitely good  sister  has  honoured  the  40,000  flo- 
rin bill  also  in  order  to  save  you?" 

The  poor  youth  was  thunderstruck  at  these 
words. 

"And  now  you  can  imagine  the  embarrassment 
of  the  baroness,  who  has  been  disinherited  and  is 
nevertheless  responsible  for  this  very  considerable 
sum  without  being  at  all  sure  that  her  husband 
will  pay  it  for  her." 

"I  will  hang  myself." 

"That  would  be  the  most  gigantic  piece  of  folly 
you  could  commit.  You  must  make  good  your 
fault.  And  now  for  a  time  we  cease  to  be  friends 
and  I  am  simply  an  examining  magistrate,  and 
you  are  an  accused  prisoner  who  is  about  to  make 
a  voluntary  confession  before  me.  Pray  sit  right 
opposite  to  me  and  answer  all  my  questions  clearly 


3IO  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

and  accurately — in  fact  tell  me  exactly  what  hap- 
pened." 

And  Vamhidy  produced  paper  and  writing  requi- 
sites, lit  a  pair  of  candles  which  he  placed  by  his 
side  and  began  the  examination  of  the  youth  sit- 
ting in  front  of  him. 

By  midnight  the  confession  was  duly  written 
down. 

When,  however,  Vamhidy  proposed  that  Colo- 
man  should  now  come  back  to  Pest  and  be  recon- 
ciled to  his  relations,  the  youth  hesitated:  "We 
will  see,"  said  he. 

"At  any  rate  remain  here  with  me  then,"  con- 
tinued Szilárd.  "Sleep  in  my  room  and  take  till 
to-morrow  to  think  it  over.  I  won't  lock  the  door 
but  you  must  give  me  your  word  of  honour  that 
you  will  not  go  out  of  that  door  without  my 
knowledge." 

"I  give  you  my  word  upon  it." 

Then  Szilárd  made  the  youth  lie  down  and  only 
went  to  rest  himself  when  he  was  sure  that  Colo- 
man  was  asleep. 

Nevertheless  on  awaking  next  morning  and 
looking  round  the  room  he  could  see  no  trace  of 
Coloman,  but  there  was  a  letter  from  him  on  the 
table  as  follows:  "Dear  old  friend,  I  thank  you 
for  your  extreme  kindness  to  me,  but  I  don't  want 
to  see  my  relations  any  more,  not  because  I  fear  to 
meet  them,  but  because  I  have  a  holy  horror  of 
the  very  atmosphere  they  breathe.  My  confession 
will  suffice  to  rectify  my  fault.     I  am  going  on 


LEANDER  BABEROSSY  311 

the  tramp  again.  The  linen  tent  is  my  home. 
And  then — there  are  obhgations  in  respect  to  the 
discharge  whereof  I  am  not  my  sister's  brother, 
I  have  taken  nothing  with  me  but  four  cigar  ends 
from  the  table,  a  liberty  I  hope  you  will  pardon 
me.  As  I  have  given  you  my  word  that  I  would 
not  go  out  of  the  door  without  your  knowledge,  I 
have  been  obliged  to  make  my  exit  through  the 
window.  Adieu!  Till  death  thy  faithful  ad- 
mirer.     COLOMAN." 

A  couple  of  hours  later  Vamhidy  learnt  from 
the  innkeeper  that  the  manager,  without  any  pre- 
vious leave-taking,  had  decamped  leaving  behind 
him  his  decorations  and  theatrical  wardrobe  as 
some  compensation  for  his  trifling  debts.  All  he 
had  taken  away  with  him  was  what  he  actually 
had  on  his  person — and  Miss  Palmira. 

And  now  Szilárd  understood  the  meaning  of 
the  passage  "there  are  obligations  in  respect  to  the 
discharge  whereof  I  am  not  my  sister's  brother." 

This  vagabond  comedian  had  an  equally  vaga- 
bond childish  ideal,  and  when  he  had  to  make  his 
choice,  he  flung  his  arm  around  her  and  fled  away 
with  her — into  the  wide,  wide  world. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

MR.    MARGARI 

Mr.  Margari  had  got  on  in  the  world.  He 
was  now  a  real  gentleman  who  had  a  four-roomed 
domicile,  paid  house-rent,  and  had  even  gone  the 
length  of  marrying.  And  can  you  guess  the  lady 
of  his  choice? — why  it  was  no  other  than  Miss 
Clementina.  That  worthy  virgin  was  of  just  the 
proper  age  for  him,  moreover  a  cosy  little  bit  of 
cash  might  safely  be  assumed  to  go  with  her, 
which  exercised  a  strong  attraction  upon  Mr. 
Margari — and  goes  to  prove  that  iron  is  not  the 
only  metal  susceptible  of  the  influence  of  the  mag- 
net. The  worthy  maiden  had  persuaded  her  re- 
spected swain  to  abduct  her  from  Hidvár,  an  en- 
ierprise  which  he  had  nobly  performed  while  the 
lady  of  the  house  was  travelling  with  her  husband 
to  Arad.  It  is  true  there  was  no  necessity  what- 
ever for  an  elopement,  for  the  baroness  was  very 
far  from  being  one  of  those  dragons  in  feminine 
shape  who  love  to  tear  asunder  hearts  that  are 
burning  for  each  other.  If  Mr.  Margari  had  re- 
spectfully solicited  the  hand  of  her  lady-compan- 
ion, there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  he  would  have 
sued  in  vain ;  but  Clementina  was  far  too  roman- 
tic for  anything  so  humdrum  as  that.  She  insisted 
that  he  should  abduct  her,  at  night  too  and 
312 


MR.  MARGARI  313 

through  a  window,  although  she  had  the  key  of 
every  door  close  at  hand. 

So  Margari  had  managed  to  set  up  as  a  gentle- 
man and  become  his  own  master.  Clementina's 
money  bought  the  furniture  and  they  even  sported 
a  musical  clock. 

Mr.  Margari  had  a  smoking-room  all  to  him- 
self, in  which  he  did  nothing  all  day  but  smoke  his 
pipe.  No  more  work  for  him  now,  no  more  copy- 
ing of  MSS.  There  the  happy  husband,  dressed  in 
a  flowered  dressing-gown,  stretched  himself  out  at 
full  length  on  the  sofa  and  blew  clouds  of  smoke 
all  around  him  out  of  his  long  csibuk,  stuffed  full 
with  the  best  Turkish  tobacco. 

Clementina  was  always  scolding  him  for  put- 
ting his  legs  upon  the  sofa.  It  was  a  nasty  habit 
she  said,  and  not  only  unbecoming  but  expensive, 
because  it  ruined  the  furniture.  Clementina,  in 
fact,  was  scolding  him  all  day;  and  this  was  very 
natural,  for  any  woman  who  has  been  condemned 
to  obsequious  servility  for  thirty  whole  years  and 
has  silently  endured  the  caprices  of  her  betters  all 
that  time,  when  she  sets  up  as  a  lady  on  her  own 
account  will  do  her  best  to  compensate  herself  for 
this  interminable  suppression  of  her  natural  in- 
stincts. But  Mr.  Margari  used  only  to  laugh 
when  his  wife  began  nagging  at  him.  "Alios  jam 
vidi  ego  ventos,  aliasque  procellas,"  he  would  say. 
He  was  only  too  glad  to  ha.ve  a  home  of  his  own 
at  all. 

"Don't  worry,  woman!"  he  would  say  witli  ref- 


314  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

erence  to  the  furniture,  *'when  that's  worn  out,  I'll 
buy  some  more.  John  Lapussa,  Esq.,  will  give  me 
whatever  I  want." 

"He  may  be  fool  enough  to  do  so  now,"  replied 
Clementina,  "but  just  you  wait  till  he  has  won  his 
action  against  Madame  Langai  and  has  no  further 
need  of  you,  he  won't  care  two  pence  for  you 
then.     I  know  Mr.  John  Lapussa." 

"So  do  I,"  retorted  Margari.  "He  has  paid  me 
hitherto  to  say  what  he  tells  me,  he  shall  pay  me 
hereafter  for  holding  my  tongue.  John  Lapussa, 
Esq.,  will  have  to  take  care  that  Margari  has 
plenty  to  eat  and  decent  clothes  to  put  on,  for,  if 
Margari  grows  hungry,  Margari  will  bite." 

Mr.  Margari  spoke  with  an  air  of  such  imperti- 
nent assurance  and  blew  about  such  clouds  of 
smoke  that  Clementina  began  to  respect  him, 
and  sat  down  on  the  sofa  by  his  side,  no  doubt  to 
protect  her  property.  "If  you  hold  his  honour  so 
completely  in  the  palm  of  your  hand,"  said  she, 
"why  don't  you  provide  better  for  yourself  and 
me  ?  It  is  all  very  well  for  his  honour  to  fork  out 
now  when  you  press  him,  but  money  goes  and 
more  is  wanted.  One  of  these  days  something 
will  happen  to  him  and  he  will  die, — and  you  can't 
follow  him  to  the  moon." 

This  was  indeed  a  hard  nut  for  Margari  to 
crack.  One  cannot  squeeze  much  out  of  dead 
men.  Such  an  impression  did  the  remark  make 
upon  him  that  he  took  his  feet  off  the  sofa  and  sat 
bolt  upright. 


MR.  MARGARI  315 

"Then  what  do  you  think  I  ought  to  do?"  he 
asked  his  wife. 

"Well,  it  is  of  no  use  his  doling  you  out  mere 
driblets ;  for  the  great  services  you  have  rendered 
him  he  ought  to  give  you  something  more  in  pro- 
portion to  your  merits — a  little  estate  in  the  coun- 
try, for  instance.  There  we  could  settle  down 
comfortably." 

"True,  and  he  has  lots  of  such  little  properties 
which  are  of  no  use  to  him  at  all.  What  do  you 
say,  for  instance,  to  an  estate  of  one  hundred  acres 
or  so ;  it  would  be  a  mere  flea-bite  to  him.  But 
flea-bite  or  no  flea-bite  that's  all  one  to  me.  I  zvisli 
him  to  give  it  me  and  give  it  he  must.  I  mean  to 
pick  and  choose." 

"And  suppose  he  says  no?" 

"He'll  never  say  that,  or  if  he  does,  I  shall  say 
something  to  somebody  and  then  it  will  be  he  who 
will  be  sorry  and  not  I.  Oh,  he'll  take  jolly  good 
care  not  to  make  Margari  angry.  His  honour  has 
much  more  need  of  Margari's  friendship  than 
Margari  has  of  his  honour's." 

And  we  shall  very  soon  see  under  what  auspices 
Margari  hoped  to  get  the  little  country  estate  from 
Mr.  John  Lapussa  as  a  reward  for  his  faithful 
services. 

Meanwhile  the  action  brought  by  Madame 
Langai  against  Mr.  John  Lapussa  was  still  in  its 
initial  stage.  Both  parties  were  inexhaustible  in 
producing  documents  and  raising  points  of  law. 
but  it  seemed    highly    probable  that   Mr.  John 


3i6  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

would  win.  Mr.  John  appeared  almost  daily  be- 
fore the  magistrate,  whom  he  called  his  dear 
friend  and  whom  he  frequently  invited  to  dine,  an 
invitation  which,  naturally,  was  never  accepted. 
One  day  Mr.  Monori,  for  that  was  the  worthy 
magistrate's  name,  asked  Mr.  John  whether  he 
knew  anything  of  a  certain  Margari  who  was 
soliciting  the  post  of  a  clerk  in  the  district  court 
and  gave  as  his  reference  the  Lapussa  family  in 
whose  service  he  had  been  for  some  years.  Mr. 
John,  with  his  innate  niggardliness,  at  once  seized 
this  opportunity  for  disembarrassing  himself  of  an 
importunate  beggar  by  saddling  the  county  with 
him.  He  exalted  ''the  worthy,  excellent  man"  to 
the  skies,  and  especially  praised  his  rectitude,  his 
sobriety,  his  diligence ! 

"But  is  he  trustworthy?"  inquired  the  magis- 
trate. "You  see  there  are  various  little  cash  pay- 
ments he  will  have  to  see  to,  is  he  clean  handed?" 

"As  good  as  gold,  I  assure  you.  I  could  trust 
him  with  thousands.  Why  some  of  my  own  bills 
are  in  his  keeping — "  and  with  that  he  proceeded 
to  say  as  many  pretty  things  of  Margari  as  if  he 
were  a  horse  dealer  trying  to  palm  off  a  blind  nag 
on  some  ignorant  bumpkin  at  a  fair. 

In  his  delight  at  having  so  successfully  rid  him- 
self of  such  an  incubus,  he  made  his  valet-de- 
chainhre  slip  over  to  Margari  to  tell  the  worthy 
man  to  wait  upon  him  on  the  morrow  at  1 1  o'clock 
precisely,  as  he  had  a  very  pleasant  piece  of  news 
to  impart  to  him ;   for  he  meant  to  make  Margari 


MR.  MARGARI  317 

believe  that  it  was  through  his,  Mr,  John  La- 
pussa's  special  influence,  that  he  had  obtained  the 
coveted  appointment  and  so  get  him  to  renounce 
all  further  claims  upon  his  old  patron. 

On  the  very  same  day  Mr.  John  was  surprised 
to  receive  a  visit  from  the  magistrate,  Mr.  Mon- 
ori,  and  this  certainly  was  a  wonder,  for  the  mag- 
istrate never  made  any  but  official  visits. 

"To  what  do  I  owe  this  extraordinary  pleas- 
ure?" asked  Mr.  John,  familiarly  inviting  the 
magistrate  to  sit  down  on  a  couch. 

"I  have  come  in  the  matter  of  this  Margari,"' 
said  Monori,  holding  himself  very  stiffly  and  fix- 
ing his  eyes  sharply  on  Mr.  John.  "Since  our 
conversation  of  this  morning,  the  circumstance 
has  come  to  my  knowledge  that  one  of  my  col- 
leagues in  the  county  of  Arad  has  succeeded  in 
finding  the  long-lost  Coloman  Lapussa." 

At  these  words  Mr.  John  began  to  smooth  out 
the  ends  of  his  mustache  and  chew  them  atten- 
tively. 

"The  young  man  confesses  to  having  forged  the 
bill,  but  asserts  that  it  was  Margari  who  led  him 
to  do  so,  and  that  the  bill  signed  by  him  was  orig- 
inally for  forty  florins  only,  so  that  undoubtedly 
somebody  else  must  have  turned  it  into  40,000." 

Mr.  John  coughed  very  much  at  these  words, — 
no  doubt  the  bit  of  mustache  which  he  had  bit  off 
stuck  in  his  throat. 

"This  is  a  very  ticklish  circumstance,  I  must 
confess,    continued    Monori,    "for    although    the 


3l8  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

young  man's  offence  has  thereby  been  consider- 
ably hghtened,  yet  the  burden  of  the  charge  has 
now  been  shifted  to  other  shoulders  hitherto  quite 
free  from  suspicion.  No  doubt,  he  being  a  minor, 
under  strict  control,  did  what  he  did  as  a  mere 
schoolboy  frolic,  but  this  Margari  and  an  un- 
known somebody  else  will  find  it  not  quite  such  a 
laughing  matter." 

Mr.  John's  mustache  was  by  this  time  not 
enough  for  him,  he  began  nibbling  his  nails  as 
well. 

"But  what  are  you  driving  at?"  he  said.  "How 
does  all  this  concern  me?" 

"It  concerns  you,  sir,  in  this  way :  you  told  me 
that  Margari  was  your  confidential  agent,  and 
therefore  he  must  have  destroyed  the  bill  at  your 
bidding." 

"I  only  said  that  to  help  him  to  get  a  small  offi- 
cial post.  I  am  responsible  for  nobody.  What 
have  I  to  do  with  the  characters  of  my  servants, 
my  lacqueys." 

"But  you  assured  me  that  your  bills  often 
passed  through  his  hands." 

Mr.  John  fancied  that  the  best  way  out  of  this 
unpleasant  cul-dc-sac  was  by  adopting  a  little  en- 
ergetic bluffing. 

"What  do  you  mean  by  cross-examining  me  in 
my  own  house?"  he  cried,  with  affected  hauteur, 
springing  from  the  sofa. 

The  magistrate  rose  at  the  same  time. 


MR.   MARGARI  319 

"Pardon  me,  but  I  am  here  not  as  a  visitor,  but 
in  my  official  capacity — as  your  judge." 

And  with  that  he  coolly  unbuttoned  his  attila* 
and  drew  forth  from  the  inside  pocket  a  large 
sealed  letter. 

"You  must  swear  to  every  one  of  the  interroga- 
tories administered  to  you  by  me." 

"I?  I'll  swear  to  nothing,"  cried  Mr.  John. 
"I  am  a  Quaker  and  therefore  cannot  take  an 
oath." 

"This  document,  sir,  is  a  royal  mandate  and 
whoever  refuses  to  obey  it  is  liable  to  penalties." 

"What  penalties  ?" 

"A  fine  of  eighty  florins." 

"Eighty  florins?  There  you  are  then,  take 
them !"  cried  Mr.  John  flinging  down  the  amount 
eagerly  and  thinking  to  himself  that  this  mandate 
was  indeed  a  juridical  masterpiece,  not  being  bind- 
ing on  a  rich  man — for  what  after  all  is  eighty 
florins  ? 

"Very  good,"  said  Mr.  Monori,  giving  him  a 
receipt  for  the  amount,  "I'll  come  again  to-mor- 
row." 

"What  for?" 

"I  shall  again  call  upon  you  to  answer  my  in- 
terrogatories upon  oath." 
"And  if  I  won't  swear?" 

"Why  then  you'll  have  to  pay  the  court  fine 
toties-quotics.  A  juratus  tabulae  rcgiae  nótárius 
will  call  regularly  every  day  and  exact  the  fine 

♦  A  fur  pelisse,  worn  on  state  occasions. 


320  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

from  you  until  such  time  as  you  make  up  your 
mind  to  take  the  oaths.     Good-day." 

After  the  magistrate  had  withdrawn  Mr.  John's 
fury  readied  its  chmax.  First  of  all  he  poured 
forth  his  wrath  upon  the  poor  inkstand,  with  the 
ink  from  which  Monori  had  written  out  the  re- 
ceipt. This  he  dashed  to  the  ground.  The  lac- 
quey who  rushed  in  at  the  commotion  to  inquire 
if  his  honour  had  rung,  he  seized  by  the  nape  of 
the  neck  and  flung  out  of  the  room.  Then  he 
rushed  after  the  man  and  pommelled  him  for  dar- 
ing to  go  out  before  he  had  been  told  to  go. 
Finally  he  dashed  out  and,  for  the  lowest  silver 
coin  he  could  make  up  his  mind  to  part  with,  hired 
a  hackney  coach  to  take  him  to  his  villa  near  the 
park,  for  thither  he  had  resolved  to  fly. 

On  arriving  there  he  recovered  himself  some- 
what. 

So  Coloman  had  been  discovered  and  had  con- 
fessed about  his  own  doings  and  Margari's.  Well 
he  must  simply  disavow  Margari,  that's  all.  But 
suppose  Margari  were  to  make  a  clean  breast  of 
it?  Well  he  could  repudiate  the  whole  thing  of 
course.  But  then  that  wretched  royal  man- 
date? He  must  either  swear  or  pay  the 
court  fine  every  day.  It  would  be  best  per- 
haps to  fly,  to  leave  the  capital  of  the 
magistrate  behind  him  and  set  out  on  his 
travels.  Perhaps  then  they  would  forget  all 
about  it.  But  then  there  was  the  law-suit !  And 
suppose  it  should  be  decided  in  the  meantime  and 


MR.  MARGARI  321 

decided  against  him !  It  was  an  absurd  dilemma ! 
To  remain  here  was  dangerous  and  to  go  away 
was  also  dangerous.  What  a  good  job  it  would 
be  if  that  cursed  forged-bill  business  could  disap- 
pear from  the  face  of  the  earth.  The  bill  ought 
to  be  withdrawn.  But  that  was  impossible  because 
it  was  already  in  the  magistrate's  hands,  and 
therefore  could  not  be  ignored.  And  then  the 
oath  required  of  him.  Either  he  must  confess 
that  he  was  personally  interested  in  the  matter  and 
then  he  would  not  be  required  to  swear  but  would 
at  the  same  time  make  himself  an  object  of  suspi- 
cion, or  else  he  must  go  on  paying  this  infernal 
toll  money  in  order  to  be  able  to  cross  the  non- 
juratory  bridge,  so  to  speak.  It  was  an  absolutely 
desperating  syllogism,  and  after  tossing  about 
sleeplessly  all  night  in  the  midst  of  this  vicious 
circle,  Mr.  John  resolved  in  the  morning  to  set  ofi 
at  once  for  the  vine)'ards  of  Promontor,*  tell  his 
servants  that  he  meant  to  remain  there  and  enjoy 
himself,  and  immediately  afterwards  get  into  a 
post-chaise  and  drive  to  his  Sarfeneki  property. 
Nobody  should  know  his  real  address  but  his  law- 
yer, and  there  he  would  await  developments,  only 
emerging  in  case  of  the  most  urgent  necessity. 

So  he  hastily  swallowed  his  chocolate,  wrapped 
himself  in  his  mantle  and  fancied  that  now  he 
might  safely  fly;  but  he  reckoned  without  his 
host,  for,  on  the  very  doorstep,  he  came  face  to 
face  with  Margari ! 

*  A  village  a  few  miles  out  of  Pest. 


322  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

"What  do  you  want  here,  eh?"  he  inquired 
fiercely  of  the  humble  man  he  feared  so  much. 

"You  were  so  good  as  to  make  an  appointment 
with  me,  your  honour,"  said  Margari  cringingly. 

"Yes,  yes,  I  know,  I  know"  (he  was  afraid  to 
warn  him  of  his  danger,  with  all  the  servants  lis- 
tening to  them),  but  I  cannot  spare  the  time  now, 
come  some  other  day.  I  cannot  give  you  any- 
thing here." 

"But  your  honour  was  good  enough  to  say  that 
you  had  some  glad  tidings  to  communicate." 

"Another  time,  another  time !  I  am  very  busy 
just  now." 

Mr.  John  would  have  shaken  off  Margari  al- 
together, but  Margari  was  not  so  easily  got  rid 
of.  He  had  already  ascertained  from  the  coach- 
man that  Mr.  John  was  off  to  Promontor  and  did 
not  mean  to  return  again  in  a  hurry,  so  he  resolved 
to  take  his  measures  accordingly.  He  rushed  for- 
ward to  open  the  carriage  door,  helped  Mr.  John 
to  get  into  the  coach,  wished  him  a  most  pleasant 
journey,  no  end  of  enjoyment  and  other  meaning- 
less things,  all  of  which  made  much  the  same 
agreeable  impression  upon  Mr.  John  as  if  an  ant 
had  crept  into  his  boot  and  he  could  not  kill  it 
because  he  was  in  company.  Only  when  the  car- 
riage door  was  shut  to  and  he  saw  Margari's 
face  no  more  did  he  begin  to  breathe  freely  again. 

Margari  however  attributed  this  reception,  or 
rather,  non-reception,  to  the  capricious  humours 
to  which  his  honour  was  constantly  liable  without 


MR.  MARGARI  323 

rhyme  or  reason  (it  is  a  peculiarity  of  self-made 
plutocrats  as  everybody  knows)  ;  but  he  was  not  a 
bit  offended, — he  knew  his  place.  His  honour 
doesn't  want  to  see  Margari  just  now,  very  well, 
he  shall  not  see  him  so  he  jumped  up  behind  the 
carriage  alongside  the  lacquey.  But  how  surprised 
his  honour  will  be  when  he  gets  to  Promontor  to 
see  Margari  open  the  carriage  door  for  him? 
How  he  will  bid  him  go  to  the  devil  and  imme- 
diately after  burst  out  laughing  and  give  him  a 
present !  And  what  will  the  present  be  ?  Has  it 
anything  to  do  with  the  good  news  with  which  he 
meant  to  surprise  him?  And  all  the  while,  Mr. 
John,  inside  the  carriage  was  hugging  himself 
with  the  idea  that  he  had  rid  himself  of  Margari 
for  a  time  and  devoutly  wishing  that  the  cholera, 
or  some  other  equally  rapid  and  effectual  disease, 
might  remove  the  old  rascal  off  the  face  of  the 
earth  altogether. 

When  the  carriage  stopped  at  the  picturesque 
vineyards  of  Promontor,  Mr.  John  almost  had  a 
stroke  when,  on  looking  through  the  glass  win- 
dow, the  first  feature  of  the  panorama  that  pre- 
sented itself  was  the  figure  of  Margari,  hastening 
to  open  the  door  with  obsequious  familiarity. 

"You  here.  Sirrah,"  he  roared  (he  would  have 
choked  with  rage  on  the  spot  if  he  had  not  said 
Sirrah).     "How  on  earth  did  you  get  here?" 

Margari  instantly  im.agined  that  his  honour's 
flashing  eyes,  convulsive  mouth  and  distorted  face 
were  the  outward  signs  of  a  jocose  frame  of  mind, 


324  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

for  there  was  always  a  sort  of  travesty  of  humour 
in  Mr.  John's  features  whenever  he  was  angry. 
So,  to  his  own  confusion,  it  occurred  to  him  to 
make  a  joke  for  the  first  time  in  his  life. 

"Crying  your  honour's  pardon,  I  űeiv,"  said  he. 

And  in  fact  the  very  next  instant  he  was  sent 
flying  so  impetuously  that  he  did  not  stop  till  he 
plumped  right  into  the  trellis-work  surrounding  a 
bed  of  vines.  Never  in  all  his  life  before  had  Mr. 
John  dispensed  such  a  buffet.  Margari  fairly 
disappeared  among  the  leaves  of  the  friendly  vine 
arbours. 

It  was  now  Mr.  John's  turn  to  be  frightened  at 
what  he  had  done.  He  was  frightened  because 
every  box  on  the  ears  he  gave  used  regularly  to 
cost  him  200  florins,  a  very  costly  passion  to  in- 
dulge in.  And  besides  he  was  particularly  anx- 
ious just  then  to  keep  Margari  in  a  good  humour. 
A  man  may  loathe  a  viper  but  he  had  better  not 
tread  on  its  tail  if  he  cannot  tread  on  its  head. 
Horrified  at  his  own  outburst  of  rage,  the  moment 
he  saw  Margari  disappear  in  the  vine-arbours,  he 
rushed  after  him,  freed  him  with  his  own  hands, 
picked  him  up,  set  him  on  his  legs  again  and  began 
to  comfort  him. 

"Come,  come,  my  dear  friend!  compose  your- 
self. I  did  not  mean  to  hurt  you.  You  are  not 
angry,  are  you.  I  hope  you  are  not  hurt  ?  Where 
did  you  hit  yourself?" 

Margari,   however,  began  whimpering  like  a 


MR.  MARGARI  325 

schoolboy,  the  more  the  other  tried  to  quiet  him, 
the  more  loudly  he  bellowed. 

"Come,  come !  don't  make  such  a  noise !  Come 
under  the  verandah  and  wipe  the  blood  from  your 
face!" 

"But  I  am  not  a  dog!''  roared  Margari.  "I 
won't  go  under  the  verandah,  I'll  go  into  the 
street.  I'll  howl  at  the  top  of  my  voice.  The 
whole  town  shall  see  me  bleed." 

"Margari,  don't  be  a  fool !  I  didn't  mean  to 
hurt  you.  I  was  too  violent,  I  admit  it.  Look 
here!  I'll  give  you  money.  How  much  do  you 
want?     Will  200  florins  be  enough?" 

At  the  words  "200  florins,"  Margari  stopped 
roaring  a  bit,  but  he  wanted  to  see  the  colour  of 
the  money,  for  he  thought  to  himself  that  if  he 
quieted  down  first  he  would  get  nothing  at  all.  So 
he  kept  on  whining  and  limped  first  on  one  leg 
and  then  on  the  other  and  plastered  his  whole  face 
over  with  blood  from  the  one  little  scratch  he  had 
got. 

Mr.  John  hastened  to  wipe  Margari's  face  with 
his  own  pockethandkerchief. 

"Come,  come  my  dear  Margari.  I  have  told  you 
I  did  not  mean  to  do  it.  Here  are  the  two  hundred 
florins  I  promised  you.  But  now  leave  me  alone. 
Go  abroad  with  the  money  and  enjoy  yourself  and 
I  will  give  you  some  more  later  on." 

"I  most  humbly  thank  you,"  lisped  the  buffeted 
wretch  with  a  conciliatory  voice  and  he  kissed  Mr. 
John's   two   hundred   florined   hand    repeatedly, 


326  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

while  the  other  did  all  in  his  power  to  hustle  him 
out  of  the  door;  and  so  engrossed  was  he  in  the 
effort  that  he  never  observed  that  some  one  had 
been  observing  the  scene  the  whole  time.  He 
therefore  regularly  collapsed  when  a  voice  which 
he  instantly  recognized,  addressed  him:  "Good 
morning,  sir !" 

The  Lernean  Hydra  was  not  more  petrified  at 
the  sight  of  the  head  of  Medusa  than  was  Mr. 
John  by  the  sight  of  the  person  who  had  just  ad- 
dressed him.     It  was  the  magistrate,  Mr,  Monori. 

At  first  he  feared  he  had  come  after  him  for  his 
diurnal  eighty  florins,  but  something  very  much 
worse  than  that  was  in  store  for  him. 

"Pardon  me,"  said  the  magistrate  drawing 
nearer,  "but  by  order  of  the  High  Court,  I  am 
here  to  arrest  Margari,  and  ascertaining  that  you 
had  taken  him  away  with  you,  I  was  obliged  to 
follow  to  prevent  him  from  escaping  altogether." 

Two  stout  pandurs*  behind  the  magistrate  gave 
additional  emphasis  to  his  words. 

"Arrest  me?"  cried  Margari,  "why  me?  I  am 
as  honest  as  the  day.  I  am  neither  a  murderer 
nor  yet  a  robber.  Mr.  John  Lapussa  can  answer 
for  me.  I  am  his  confidential  agent!" — and  he 
clung  convulsively  to  the  coat  tail  of  his  principal. 

Mr.  John  plainly  perceived  that  never  in  his  life 
before  had  he  been  in  such  an  awkward  situation. 
They  could  accuse  him  now  of  having  instigated 
!Margari  to  make  a  bolt  of  it.     Had  not  the  magis- 

*  Hungarian  police  officers. 


MR.  MARGARI  327 

trate  seen  him  give  the  wretched  man  money  to 
run  away  with?  His  first  care  was  to  disengage 
Margari's  hands  from  his  coat  tail  and  next  to 
hold  him  at  arm's  length  so  that  he  should  not 
clutch  his  collar.  Then  with  pompous  imperti- 
nence he  pretended  not  to  know,  him. 

"What  does  the  man  want  ?  Who  is  he  ?  How 
did  he  come  hither?"  he  exclaimed.  ''I  know 
nothing  about  him.  I  boxed  his  ears  for  molest- 
ing me,  and  then  I  gave  him  200  florins  which  is 
the  usual  legal  fine  for  an  assault  of  that  kind,  to 
prevent  him  bringing  an  action  against  me.  We 
have  nothing  else  in  common.  Take  him  away  by 
all  means.  Put  him  in  irons.  Give  him  what- 
ever punishment  he  has  deserved.  Yes,"  he  con- 
tinued, seizing  the  astounded  Margari  by  the 
cravat,  "you  are  a  refined  scoundrel.  You  per- 
suaded my  dear  nephew  Coloman  to  take  that 
false  step  and  then  you  yourself  changed  the  forty 
florins  into  forty  thousand.  You  wanted  to  ruin 
the  young  man's  future  and  bring  a  slur  upon  the 
family.  I  know  everything.  His  honour  the  mag- 
istrate told  me  all  about  it  yesterday,  and  that  is 
why  I  hand  you  over  to  the  law  for  punishment." 
And  with  that  he  shook  him  so  violently  that  he 
fell  on  his  back  again,  this  time  into  a  bed  of  toma- 
toes, whereby  his  white  linen  pantaloons  very 
speedily  became  stained  with  the  national  col- 
ours.* 

The  dialogue  that  thereupon  ensued  no  short- 

*  Red,  white  and  green. 


328  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

hand  reporter  could  have  reproduced,  for  the  pair 
of  them  began  forthwith  to  rave  and  storm  at  one 
another  with  all  their  might,  stamping,  swearing, 
shaking  their  fists,  and  loading  each  other  with 
abuse.  When  they  had  got  as  far  as  calling  each 
other  robber  and  scoundrel,  the  magistrate 
thought  it  high  time  to  interfere,  and  at  his  com- 
mand Margari  was  torn  forcibly  out  of  the  tomato 
bed,  led  to  a  hackney  coach  and  thrust  inside ;  yet 
even  then  he  put  his  head  out  of  the  window  and 
shouted  that  he  did  not  mean  to  sit  in  prison  alone 
but  would  very  soon  have  Mr.  John  Lapussa  there 
also,  as  his  companion.  All  the  efforts  of  the  two 
pandurs  were  powerless  to  silence  him. 

As  for  Mr.  John,  the  magistrate  simply  said  to 
him :  "Sir,  it  is  not  good  for  a  man  to  make  use  of 
nasty  tools,  for  by  so  doing  he  only  dirties  his  own 
hands." 

Then  he  got  into  a  second  hackney  coach  and 
drove  away  after  the  first  one. 

Even  Mr.  John  could  see  that  it  was  now  quite 
impossible  for  him  under  the  circumstances  to 
think  of  quitting  Pest. 


I 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

THE    UNDISCOVERABLE   LADY 

Squire  Gerzson  Satrakovics  thought  it  best 
after  that  night  at  the  csárda  to  go  back  to  Arad. 
This  wondrous  event,  the  clue  to  which  he  could 
not  hit  upon  anyhow,  must  needs  interest  Háts- 
zegi most  of  all.  It  would  be  a  terrible  thing  to 
appear  before  him  with  the  tidings  that  the  lady 
who  was  intrusted  to  his  care,  had  been  lost  on 
the  way;  yet,  nevertheless,  this  was  the  first  thing 
he  must  say,  and  after  that  they  would  consult 
together  as  to  what  was  to  be  done  to  find  her  and 
where  they  were  to  look  for  her. 

Never  had  Mr.  Gerzson  approached  a  bear's 
den  with  such  beating  of  heart  as  he  now  ap- 
proached Hátsegi's  chambers.  His  breath  almost 
failed  him  as  he  seized  the  handle  of  the  street 
door  and  wished  it  might  prove  locked  in  order 
that  it  might  take  a  longer  time  to  open  it. 

And  locked  indeed  the  door  proved  to  be,  he 
had  to  ring.  Thus  he  had,  at  any  rate,  a  respite, 
for  he  must  await  the  result  of  the  ringing.  And 
a  long  time  he  had  to  wait  too,  so  long  indeed  that 
it  was  necessary  to  ring  again.  Even  then  there 
was  no  response.  Then  he  rang  a  third  time,  and 
after  that  he  went  on  ring-ring-ringing  for  a  good 

329 


330  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

half  hour.  At  last  the  bellrope  remained  in  his 
hand  and  he  put  it  into  his  pocket  that  it  might 
testify  to  the  fact  that  he  had  been  there.  Then, 
for  the  first  time,  he  noticed  that  the  shutters  were 
all  up — the  surest  sign  that  nobody  was  at  home. 

Gerzson  explained  the  matter  to  his  own  satis- 
faction by  supposing  that  the  whole  household 
was  at  the  races.  It  was  the  last  day  of  the  races 
and  he  reached  the  course  just  as  the  betting  was 
at  its  height  and  everybody's  attention  was  con- 
centrated on  the  event  of  the  moment.  At  such 
time  the  crowd  has  no  eyes  for  men,  everyone  is 
occupied  with  the  horses.  Mr.  Gerzson  there- 
fore had  plenty  of  time  to  scrutinize  all  who  were 
present,  but  look  as  he  would  he  could  not  see 
Leonard  anywhere. 

At  last  he  could  stand  the  suspense  no  longer, 
and  during  the  interval  between  two  races,  he  de- 
scended from  the  grand-stand,  in  a  corner  of 
which  he  had  ensconced  himself  in  order  to  get  a 
better  view  of  the  field,  and  mingled  in  the  ring 
with  his  brother  sportsmen  awaiting  resignedly 
for  the  expression  of  amazed  and  horrified  inquiry 
which  he  expected  to  see  in  all  faces  the  moment 
they  perceived  him. 

But  how  taken  aback  was  he  when  the  first  man 
who  cast  eyes  on  him  gave  vent  to  a  loud:  Ha! 
ha !  ha !  whereupon  everybody  else  began  laugh- 
ing also  and  pointing  their  fingers  at  him  and  ex- 
claiming: "Why  here's  Gerzson!  Gerzson  has 
come  back  again!" 


THE  UNDISCOVERABLE  LADY     331 

"Have  you  all  gone  mad?"  cried  Gerzson,  con- 
fused by  this  inexplicable  hubbub. 

He  really  fancied  that  he  had  fallen  among  a  lot 
of  lunatics,  till  at  last  Count  Kengyelesy  fori;ed  his 
way  through  the  crowd  towards  him,  put  both  his 
hands  on  his  hips  and  began  to  quiz  him :  "Well, 
you  are  a  pretty  fellow ! — you  are  a  pretty  squire 
of  dames,  I  must  say! 

"But  what's  the  matter?  What  has  happened? 
Why  do  you  laugh?" 

"Listen  to  him!"  cried  the  count,  turning  to  the 
bystanders.  "He  actually  has  the  impertinence  to 
ask  us  why  we  laugh !  Come,  sir !  where  did  you 
leave  the  Baroness  Hátszegi?" 

"  I  don't  see  what  there  is  to  laugh  at  at  such  a 
question?"  replied  Gerzson,  in  whose  mind  all 
sorts  of  clark  forebodings  began  to  arise. 

"What  have  you  done  with  the  baroness? 
What  have  you  done  with  our  friend  Leonard's 
wife,  I  say?"  persisted  the  count. 

"That  is  a  perfect  riddle  to  me,"  growled  Gerz- 
son in  a  low  voice. 

"Ha!  ha!  ha!"  laughed  the  count,  "it  is  a  rid- 
dle to  him  what  has  become  of  his  travelling  com- 
panion." 

"But  can  any  of  you  tell  me  what  has  happened 
to  her?     Is  she  alive?" 

The  count  clapped  his  hands  together  and  flung 
his  round  hat  upon  the  ground. 

"Now,  that  is  what  I  call  a  leetlc  too  strong! 


332  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

He  asks :  is  she  alive  ?  Why,  comrade,  where  have 
you  been  in  hiding  aU  this  time?" 

"A  truce  to  jesting,"  cried  Gerzson  fiercely. 
"Tell  me  all  you  know  about  it,  for  it  is  no  joking 
matter  for  me,  I  can  assure  you." 

On  perceiving  that  Gerzson  was  seriously 
angry,  Kengyelesy  drew  nearer  to  him  and  en- 
lightened him  without  any  more  beating  about  the 
bush :  "Well  then,  my  dear  friend,  let  me  tell  you 
that  you  have  behaved  very  badly.  First  of  all 
you  made  all  four  of  Hátszegi's  horses  lame;  in 
the  second  place  you  compelled  his  poor  wife  to 
spend  a  night  in  a  csárda  of  the  puszta,  and  in  the 
third  place  you  got  so  drunk  that  you  began  to 
quarrel  with  her  and  at  last  did  not  know  whether 
you  were  boy  or  girl.  The  poor  little  woman  has 
grown  almost  grey  with  terror,  and'  after  you  had 
fallen  to  the  ground  in  liquor  she  sent  the  coach- 
man to  town  for  fresh  horses  and,  leaving  you 
under  the  table,  tried  to  make  her  way  back  to 
Arad." 

"That  is  not  true,"  interrupted  Gerzson,  his 
whole  face  purple  with  rage. 

"What  is  not  true?" 

"Where  is  the  baroness  ?" 

"Stop,  stop,  my  friend!  Don't  run  away! 
You'll  never  catch  her  up,  for,  early  this  morning, 
she  drove  back  to  Hidvár  in  a  postchaise  with  her 
husband." 

"That  can  not  be  true.   Did  you  see  her  ?" 


THE  UNDISCOVERABLE  LADY    333 

"I  saw  her  through  my  own  field  glass.  But  we 
all  saw  her — did  we  not,  gentlemen?" 

Many  of  those  present  admitted  that  they  had 
indeed  seen  the  baroness. 

''But  my  dear  fellow,"  said  the  perturbed  Gerz- 
son,  "this  is  no  joke.  On  the  contrary,  my  adven- 
ture with  the  baroness  is  somewhat  tragical,  and 
I'll  trouble  you  to  expend  no  more  of  your  feeble 
witticisms  on  me." 

Kengyelesy  shrugged  his  shoulders.  "I  did 
not  know  you  would  take  it  so  seriously,  but  so  it 
is." 

"From  whom  did  you  hear  all  this,  from  the 
baroness?" 

"No — from  Hátszegi." 

An  idea  suddenly  flashed  through  Gerzson's 
brain. 

"Did  you  speak  to  the  baroness  herself?" 

"No.  I  only  saw  her  through  the  carriage 
window  when  they  drove  away." 

"Was  she  veiled?" 

"No,  my  friend.  It  was  her  very  self  I  assure 
you." 

"Thank  you.  And  now,  if  you  like,  you  can 
go  on  amusing  yourself  at  my  expense.   Adieu !" 

Only  when  he  had  got  home  and  flung  himself 
on  the  sofa  in  a  state  of  stupor,  did  he  begin  to  re- 
flect a  little  calmly  on  what  he  had  heard.  There 
was  so  much  about  the  affair  that  was  startling 
and  incomprehensible,  true  and  untrue,  probable, 


334  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

incredible,   shameful   and   exasperating,   that  he 
could  make  neither  head  nor  tail  of  it. 

That  the  baroness  had  returned  must  be  true, 
for  they  all  maintained  that  she  had  come  back 
while  he  was  lying  drunk.  It  is  true  that 
he  had  got  drunk,  but  he  had  no  recollection 
of  having  been  quarrelsome  and  misbehaving 
himself.  Strain  his  memory  as  he  might,  all  he 
could  call  to  mind  was  Henrietta,  with  her  angel- 
ically gentle  face,  sitting  before  him  at  the  table 
and  telling  him  the  legends  of  the  Transylvanian 
Alps — all  the  rest  was  a  blank. 

Up  he  jumped  at  last  and  began  pacing  up  and 
down  the  room.  At  last,  after  much  reflection, 
his  mind  was  made  up,  he  had  formed  a  plan. 

"I'll  be  off.  I'll  be  off  immediately.  I'll  go 
straight  to  her.  I  am  determined  to  learn  from 
her  own  lips  exactly  what  happened  to  me  and 
how  I  came  to  make  such  a  fool  of  myself.  I  will 
speak  to  her  myself." 

And  immediately  he  ordered  his  coachman  to  put 
the  horses  to ;  but  he  told  not  a  living  soul  whither 
he  was  going,  even  to  the  coachman  he  only  men- 
tioned the  first  stage. 

At  a  little  booth  at  the  end  of  the  town  he 
bought  four  and  twenty  double  rolls  and  a  new 
wooden  field  flask.  When  they  came  to  the  River 
Maros,  he  descended  to  the  water's  edge,  rinsed 
out  his  flask  at  least  twice  and  then  filled  it 
with  water,  finally  thrusting  both  the  rolls  and  the 
flask  into  his  travelling  knapsack.     After  that  he 


THE  UNDISCOVERABLE  LADY    335 

drew  on  his  mantle,  clambered  up  into  the  back 
part  of  the  coach,  stuck  his  pipe  in  his  mouth  and 
his  pistol  in  his  fist  and  never  closed  an  eye  till 
morning. 

And  it  must  be  admitted  that  Mr.  Gerzson's 
mode  of  travelling  on  this  occasion  was  decidedly 
eccentric.  On  reaching  a  village  he  would  tell  his 
coachman  where  to  go  next  but  he  never  told  him 
more  than  one  stage  in  advance.  Every  morn- 
ing he  would  consume  one  of  his  rolls  and  wash 
it  down  with  the  lukewarm  brackish  water  of  the 
Maros — and  bitter  enough  he  found  the  taste  of  it 
too.  He  never  quitted  the  carriage  for  more  than 
two  or  three  minutes  at  a  time,  and  he  presented 
his  pistols  point  blank  at  everyone  who  approached 
him  with  inquisitive  questions. 

Only  twice  during  the  night  did  he  allow  the 
horses  an  hour  or  two  of  rest — and  then  away 
over  stock  and  stone  again. 

The  coachman,  who  was  unaccustomed  to  such 
queer  ways,  presently  shook  his  head  every  time 
he  received  orders  to  go  on  further,  but  by  dawn 
of  day  he  had  had  about  enough  of  the  job. 

"Your  honour,"  said  he,  "are  we  going  to  stop 
at  all?  It  would  do  the  horses  no  harm  if  they 
had  a  little  rest." 

"What's  that  to  you,  you  rascal,  eh?"  roared 
Mr.  Gerzson,  "I  suppose  you're  sleepy,  you  lazy 
good-for-nothing?  Off  the  box  then,  you  hound, 
you!  I'll  drive  the  horses  myself,  you  gallows- 
bird!" 


336  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

The  old  fellow,  who  had  been  in  the  service 
of  the  family  for  twenty  years  and  had  never  had 
so  many  insulting  epithets  thrown  at  his  head  be- 
fore explained  that  he  did  not  speak  for  himself 
but  for  the  horses. 

"If  they  perished  on  the  spot,  Sirrah,  what  busi- 
ness is  it  of  yours  ?  When  one  pursues  the  enemy 
in  time  of  war,  does  one  think  of  food  or  fodder?" 
— whence  the  coachman  concluded  that  there  was 
some  one  whom  the  squire  meant  to  cut  to  pieces. 

It  was  only  when  they  came  to  the  road  leading- 
to  Hidvár  that  the  coachman  began  to  suspect 
that  they  were  about  to  go  in  that  direction.  It 
was  now  the  evening  of  the  second  day  and  both 
man  and  beast  were  tired  to  death.  It  was  indis- 
pensable that  they  should  stay  the  night  here,  for 
if  they  passed  Hidvár  they  would  have  to  go  on 
the  whole  night  before  they  reached  the  next 
stage — or  come  to  grief  on  the  road,  which  was 
much  more  probable. 

"You  will  stop  in  front  of  the  castle!"  com- 
manded Mr.  Gerzson  when  they  were  crossing 
the  castle  bridge. 

The  coachman  looked  back  and  shook  his  head. 
He  did  not  like  it  at  all. 

"Shan't  we  turn  into  the  castle  yard?"  enquired 
he. 

"No !"  bellowed  Squire  Gerzson,  so  venomously 
that  the  "why  not?"  he  was  about  to  say,  stuck  in 
the  poor  coachman's  throat  like  a  fish-bone. 

"Now  listen  to  me,"  said  Gerzson,  when  they 


THE  UNDISCOVERABLE  LADY    337 

had  fairly  got  across  to  the  other  side:  ''Keep 
your  eyes  open  and  try  and  take  in  what  I  am 
going  to  say  to  you.  I  don't  know  how  long  I 
may  remain  inside  there — ^possibly  some  time.  At 
any  rate  you  must  not  loiter  about  here  with  the 
horses  but  go  on  to  the  priest  and  beg  him,  civilly, 
mind,  to  kindly  accommodate  my  nags  in  his 
stable  and  give  them  two  bushels  of  maize.  As 
soon  as  I  return  I'll  settle  with  him,  but  don't  say 
anything  about  payment,  or  else  you  will  offend 
him.  Kiss  his  hand,  for  he  is  a  priest  and  you  are 
only  a  lazy  vagabond.  If  you  hear  no  news  of 
me  by  to-morrow  morning,  put  the  horses  into  the 
carriage  again  and  return  to  Arad  where  Count 
Kengyelesy  will  tell  you  what  to  do  next." 

Then  he  turned  upon  his  heel  and  set  off  to- 
wards the  castle. 

It  was  already  evening.  In  the  upper  story 
seven  of  the  windows  were  lit  up  and  the  moon 
shone  into  the  eighth.  That  was  Henrietta's  bed- 
room. Squire  Gerzson  knew  it.  He  was  quite  at 
home  in  the  castle. 

At  the  hall  entrance  he  encountered  Leonard's 
huntsman,  an  impertinent,  bony,  jowly  loafer 
whom  he  had  never  been  able  to  endure.  The  fel- 
low barred  the  way. 

"Good  evening  your  honour." 

*'Why  should  you  wish  mc  good  evening,  you 
stupid  jackass !  Do  you  suppose  I  have  travelled 
five  and  twenty  miles  for  the  pleasure  of  wishing 
you  good  evening  ?    Who's  at  home  ?" 


338  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

"Nobody." 

"Go  along  with  you,  you  sodden-headed  son  of 
a  dog.  Nobody  at  home  and  seven  windows  in 
the  upper  story  all  alight !" 

"It  is  true  the  rooms  are  lit  up,  but  that  is  on 
account  of  her  ladyship — they  are  sitting  up  with 
her." 

"Then  where's  yQur  master?" 

"He  has  trotted  into  Klausenburg  for  the 
learned  doctor." 

"What  is  the  matter  with  her  ladyship?" 

"I  don't  know.    They  say  she  is  mad." 

"You  are  mad  yourself,  you  stupid  beast.  Who 
told  you  that?" 

"I  saw  it,  I  heard  it  myself,  and  others  also  have 
seen  that  she  is  mad." 

"Cannot  I  speak  to  her?" 

"How  can  you  ?  That's  just  the  mischief  of  it, 
that  she  cannot  be  spoken  to." 

"You  rascal,  I  tell  you  your  master  is  at  home. 
I  am  sure  of  it." 

Long-legs  shrugged  his  shoulders  and  began 
to  whistle. 

"Look  ye  here,  my  son,"  said  Gerzson,  scarcely 
able  to  contain  himself,  "the  fist  that  you  see  in 
my  pocket  here  is  pulling  the  trigger  of  a  revol- 
ver and  I  have  a  jolly  good  mind  to  send  a  bullet 
between  your  onion  chawing  teeth,  so  I  should  ad- 
vise you  not  to  try  any  of  your  tom-foolery  on  me. 
On  this  occasion  I  have  not  come  to  pay  your  mas- 


THE  UNDISCOVERABLE  LADY     339 

ter  a  visit  but  for  other  reasons.  Speak  the  truth, 
sirrah!     Is  your  master  at  home  or  is  he  not?" 

"I  have  just  told  you  that  there  is  not  a  soul  at 
home  except  her  ladyship,  and  she  is  mad." 

At  that  same  moment  Gerzson  thought  he 
heard  a  fiddle  in  the  upper  story. 

"What,  music  here!"  he  cried. 

The  fellow  laughed. 

"Yes,  they  are  trying  to  cure  the  sick  baroness 
by  playing  to  her." 

"But  I  hear  the  sound  of  men's  voices  also  as  if 
there  were  guests  here." 

"Where?  I  hear  nothing.  It  is  only  the  dogs 
barking  in  the  enclosure." 

"You  did  not  hear  it,  sirrah  ?" 

"I  heard  nothing." 

"Very  well,  my  son,  I  see  you  have  orders  to 
make  a  fool  of  me ;  but  it  strikes  me  that  both  you 
and  your  master  will  have  to  get  up  pretty  early 
to  do  that.  You  need  not  be  so  anxious  to  guard 
the  door,  I  shall  not  try  to  force  my  way  up  to 
your  master.  I'll  wager  he  will  come  and  see  me 
first.    Wait  a  bit." 

And  with  that  Gerzson  sat  down  on  the  step, 
tore  a  leaf  out  of  his  pocketbook  and,  placing  it  on 
his  knee,  wrote  with  his  pencil  the  following 
words :  "Sir,  I  declare  you  to  be  a  miserable  cow- 
ard. If  you  want  to  know  why,  you  will  find  me 
at  the  parson's,  there  I  will  tell  3'ou  and  after  that 
we  can  arrange  our  little  business  between  c  ur- 
selves.  "Gerzson  Satrakovics." 


340  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

Mr.  Gerzson  had  even  taken  the  trouble  to  pro- 
vide himself  with  sealing-w^ax  and  matches  so  he 
could  seal  his  letter  v^^ithout  any  difficulty  and  the 
step  served  him  as  a  table. 

But  suppose  even  this  letter  did  not  make  Háts- 
zegi come  forth  ?  Struck  by  this  idea  he  tore  open 
the  note  again  and  added  this  postscript :  "If  you 
do  not  give  me  proper  satisfaction,  I  will  wait  for 
you  at  the  gate  of  your  own  castle  and  shoot  you 
down  like  a  dog!!" 

Surely  that  would  be  enough! 

Again  he  sealed  the  letter  and  was  about  to 
hand  it  to  the  huntsman  when  it  suddenly  occurred 
to  him  that  Hátszegi  might  chuck  the  note  un- 
opened into  the  fire.  Now,  therefore,  he  wrote  on 
the  outside  of  it,  just  below  the  address :  "If  you 
don't  open  this  letter,  I  will  have  an  exact  copy  of 
it  posted  upon  the  notice-board  of  the  club  at 
Arad." 

"And  now,  you  door-keeping  Cerberus,"  said 
he,  "take  this  and  give  it  to  your  master,  wherever 
he  may  be." 

He  wasted  no  more  words  upon  the  fellow,  but 
went  straight  to  the  dwelling  of  the  old  priest  who 
was  awaiting  him  in  his  porch. 

"I  must  beg  your  reverence  for  a  night's  lodg- 
ing, I  am  afraid,"  said  Squire  Gerzson,  cordially 
pressing  the  old  clergyman's  hand.  "There  is  se- 
rious illness  at  the  baron's  house  so  I  don't  want 
to  incommode  them  with  my  company.     All  I 


THE  UNDIwSCOVERABLE  LADY      341 

want  is  a  place  whereon  to  lay  my  head.  My  wants 
are  few.    You  know  me  of  old." 

"Gladly  will  I  share  with  your  honour  the  little 
I  have.  God  hath  brought  you  hither.  I  am  glad 
you  did  not  stay  at  the  castle.  The  company  there 
is  not  fit  for  your  honour." 

"Then  there  is  company  there,  eh  ?  What  sort 
of  folks  are  they?" 

"Folks  I  should  not  care  about  meeting.  Drah- 
howecz  and  Muntya,  and  Harastory,  and  Brinkó, 
and  Bandán,  and  Kerakoricz,  and    .     ." 

"That  will  do,"  interrupted  Mr.  Gerzson, 
aghast  at  so  many  odd,  strange  names  not  one  of 
which  he  had  ever  heard  of  before.  "New  comers, 
I  suppose?" 

'T  was  sure  their  names  would  be  quite  un- 
familiar to  your  honour,"  remarked  the  priest 
smiling,  and  he  led  his  guest  into  his  narrow 
dwelling,  looking  cautiously  round  first  of  all  to 
make  sure  that  nobody  was  listening.  Once  inside 
he  carefully  barred  the  door,  seated  his  guest  at 
the  carved  wooden  table,  which  was  covered  with 
a  pretty  covering  made  from  foal-skin,  and  filled 
a  dish  with  fresh  maize  pottage,  adding  thereto 
a  ham  bone  and  a  jug  of  mead.  Mr.  Gerzson  fell 
to,  like  a  man,  on  the  very  first  invitation;  and 
each  armed  with  a  wooden  spoon,  attacked  the 
maize  pottage  from  different  points  till  their  as- 
siduously tunnelling  spoons  met  together  in  the 
centre  of  the  large  platter. 

"A  capital  dish,  your  reverence,  really  capital." 


342  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

"Very  good  for  poor  folks  like  we  are,  I  ad- 
mit. I  know  you  don't  have  fare  like  this  in  Hun- 
gary." 

"I  suppose  we  don't  know  how  to  prepare  it 
properly,"  said  Gerzson. 

And  then  the  priest  explained  how  hot  the 
water  must  be  when  maize  meal  or  sweet-broom 
meal  has  to  be  mixed  with  it,  how  the  whole  mess 
must  be  stirred  with  a  spoon,  how  a  little  finely 
grated  cheese  has  to  be  added  to  it,  and  how 
it  had  then  all  to  be  tied  up  in  a  cloth  like  a  plum- 
pudding  and  have  milk  poured  over  it.  And  Squire 
Gerzson  listened  to  him  as  attentively  as  if  he  had 
come  all  the  way  from  Arad  to  Hidvár  on  purpose 
to  learn  the  art  of  cooking  maize  pottage.  And 
after  that  they  pledged  each  other's  health  in  long 
draughts  from  the  mead  jug. 

"And  now,"  said  the  priest  when  they  had  well 
supped,  "I  know  that  your  honour  spent  all  last 
night  upon  the  road.  You  must  be  tired  and  in- 
stead of  boring  yourself  by  listening  to  my  unin- 
teresting gossip,  it  would  be  better,  methinks,  if 
we  both  went  to  bed." 

"I  shouldn't  mind  lying  down  at  all,  but  alas! 
I  have  an  appointment  here  with  some  one." 

"May  I  ask  with  whom?" 

"I  have  written  the  baron  a  letter  and  I  await 
a  reply." 

"He  will  not  send  one :  he  is  too  much  taken  up 
with  his  pleasures  just  now." 


THE  UNDISCOVERABLE  LADY    343 

"My  letter  contains  things  which  a  man  durst 
not  ignore." 

"Was  your  letter  an  insulting  one?" 

"I  don't  wish  to  advertise  its  contents." 

"Very  good.  But  for  all  that  you  may  as  well 
lie  down.  The  ways  of  the  baron  are  incalcula- 
ble. Even  when  he  is  angry  he  knows  what  he  is 
about." 

"Then  we'll  wait  for  him  till  morning." 

"Meanwhile  repose  in  peace.  My  humble  dwell- 
ing is  not  very  luxurious,  but  let  your  honour  im- 
agine that  it  is  a  hunting  hut  in  the  forest." 

"But  where  then  will  your  reverence  sleep?" 

"I'll  go  out  to  the  bee-house.  I  can  sleep  there 
excellently  well,  I  have  a  couch  of  linden  leaves." 

"Nay,  but  I  also  love  to  sleep  on  linden  leaves, 
covered  with  my  bunda*  I'll  lie  there  to-night. 
I  am  accustomed  to  sleeping  in  the  open  air  at 
night,  and  you  are  an  old  man" — he  forgot  that  he 
was  one  himself — "I  could  never  permit  you  to 
sacrifice  your  comfort  for  my  sake." 

The  clergyman  paused  for  an  instant  like  one 
who  is  suddenly  struck  by  a  new  and  odd  idea. 

"You  said  just  now  that  you  had  insulted  Háts- 
zegi, did  you  not?"  he  asked. 

"Well — yes ! — if  you  iiiiist  know." 

"Grossly?" 

"Yes,  and  most  deliberately." 

"Very  good,  I  only  asked  the  question  out  of 


•  A  sheepskin  mantle. 


344  POOR  PLUTOCRATS  , 

curiosity.    You  shall  have  the  choice  of  your  rest- 
ing place,  where  would  you  like  to  sleep?" 

"I  choose  the  bee-house." 

"Good.  It  is  true  that  the  night  air  is  not  very  1 
good  for  me.  I  will  sleep  then  in  my  usual  rest-  ' 
ing  place." 

"And  I  will  sleep  among  the  bees.    Their  hum-         ! 
ming  close  beside  a  man's  ears  generally  brings 
him  dreams  that  a  king  would  envy." 

"Then  good  night,  sir." 

''Good  night." 

They  parted  at  the  little  porch.  Gerzson  I 
wrapped  his  bunda  round  his  shoulders  and  went 
towards  the  bee-house,  but  the  priest  returned  to 
his  chamber,  blew  out  the  light,  lay  down  fully 
dressed  on  his  bed,  took  up  his  rosary  and  fell 
a-praying  like  one  who  does  not  expect  to  see  the 
dawn  of  another  day. 

He  knew  his  man ;  he  knew  what  was  coming. 

Squire  Gerz^son,  on  the  other  hand,  troubled 
himself  not  a  jot  about  possible  consequences. 
With  the  nonchalance  of  a  true  sportsman,  he  lit 
his  pipe  and,  lest  he  should  set  anything  on  fire, 
he  made  up  his  mind  not  to  sleep  a  wink  till  he 
had  smoked  his  pipe  right  out. 

In  order  that  slumber  might  not  come  upon  him 
unawares,  he  resolved  to  fix  his  eyes  on  the  castle 
windows — as  the  best  preservative  against  drop- 
ping off.  He  could  see  them  quite  plainly  from 
the  bee-house. 

The  illuminated  windows  were  darkened  one  by 


THE  UNDISCOVERABLE  LADY    345 

one.  It  seemed  as  if,  contrary  to  the  words  of  the 
clergyman,  the  revellers  within  there  did  not  mean 
to  await  the  rosy  dawn  glass  in  hand,  but  had  lain 
down  early. 

For,  indeed,  it  was  sLill  early.  The  village 
cocks  had  only  just  crowed  for  the  first  time.  It 
could  not  be  much  beyond  eleven. 

After  the  lamps  had  been  extinguished,  the  cas- 
tle stood  there  in  the  semi-obscurity  of  night  like  a 
black,  old-world  ruin.  It  stood  right  in  front  of 
the  moon  which  was  now  climbing  up  behind  its 
bastions  and  where  its  light  fell  upon  two  opposite 
windows  which  met  together  in  a  corner  room  it 
shone  through  them  both  and  lighted  up  the  whole 
apartment.  This  room  was  the  baroness's  dormi- 
tory. 

While  Mr.  Gerzson  was  luxuriating  in  the  con- 
templation of  the  moonlight,  he  suddenly  ob- 
served that  the  moonlight  falling  upon  the  win- 
dows was  obscured  for  an  instant,  as  if  somebody 
were  passing  up  and  down  the  room.  In  a  few 
moments  this  obscuration  was  repeated,  and  the 
same  thing  happened  a  third  time,  and  a  fourth, 
and  many  times  more,  just  as  if  some  one  were 
passing  up  and  down  in  that  particular  room  in 
the  middle  of  the  night  restlessly,  incessantly. 

Mr.  Gerzson  counted  on  his  pulses  the  seconds 
which  elapsed  between  each  obscuration — sixteen 
seconds,  consequently  the  room  in  which  this  per- 
son was  to-and-froing  it  so  late  at  night  like  a 
spectre,  must  be  sixteen  paces  from  one  end  to  the 


346  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

other.  So  long  as  the  other  windows  had  been 
lit  up,  this  person  had  not  begun  to  walk  but  as 
soon  as  the  whole  castle  was  slumbering  its  rest- 
less course  began. 

Gerzson  felt  that  if  he  looked  much  longer,  he 
would  become  moonstruck  himself. 

Slowly  divesting  himself  of  his  bunda,  and  after 
knocking  the  burning  ashes  out  of  his  pipe,  he 
noiselessly  quitted  the  bee-house,  traversed  the  gar- 
den and  sprang  over  the  fence  at  a  single  bound. 
Then  he  stole  along  in  the  shadow  of  the  poplar 
avenue  leading  up  to  the  castle  till  he  stood  be- 
neath the  moon-lit  window,  climbed,  like  a  verita- 
ble lunatic  on  to  the  projecting  stones  of  the  old 
bastion,  and  gazed  from  thence,  at  closer  quar- 
ters, at  the  regularly  recurring  shadow. 

But  not  even  now  was  he  content,  but  began 
to  break  off  little  portions  of  the  mouldering  mor- 
tar and  cautiously  throw  them  at  the  window. 
V/hen  one  of  these  little  fragments  of  mortar  rat- 
tled against  the  glass  the  whole  window  was 
quickly  obscured  by  a  shadow  as  if  the  night  wan- 
derer had  rushed  to  it  in  order  to  look  out.  Gerz- 
son felt  absolutely  certain  that  he  must  be  ob- 
served for  there  he  stood  clinging  fast  on  to 
the  moulding.  A  few  moments  afterwards  the 
shadow  disappeared  suddenly  from  the  window 
and  again  the  moonlight  shone  uninterruptedly 
through  it. 

Gcrson  determined  to  remain  where  he  was,  to 
see  what  would  come  of  it. 


THE  UNDISCOVERABLE  LADY     347 

In  a  short  time  the  shadow  reappeared  in  front 
of  the  moonhght,  the  window  was  silently  and 
very  slightly  raised,  and  through  the  slit  fluttered 
a  rolled  up  piece  of  paper. 

This  missive  fell  from  the  moulding  of  the  bas- 
tion down  into  the  moat.  Mr.  Gerzson  scrambled 
down  after  it,  grabbed  at  it  in  the  dark  and  stick- 
ing it  into  his  pocket,  returned  to  the  dwelling  of 
the  priest. 

Not  wishing  to  arouse  the  clergyman,  he  went 
to  his  carriage  which  stood  in  the  stable  and  lit 
the  lamp  in  order  to  read  the  mysterious-  missive. 

The  letter  was  written  on  a  piece  of  paper  torn 
out  of  an  album.  He  recognized  Henrietta's 
handwriting,  and  the  contents  of  the  note  were 
as  follows :  "Good  kind  Gerzson !  I  implore  you, 
in  the  name  of  all  that  is  sacred,  to  depart  from 
hence  this  instant.  Depart  on  foot  by  bye  paths — 
the  priest  will  guide  you.  H  you  do  not  wish  me 
to  lose  my  reason  altogether,  tarry  here  no  longer. 
I  am  very  unhappy,  but  still  more  unhappy  I 
should  be  if  you  were  to  remain  here.  Avoid  us — 
and  forget  me  forever — your  affectionate — re- 
spectful— friend  who  will  ever  mention  you  in  her 
prayers — and  whom  you  have  treated  as  a  daugh- 
ter— Henrietta.^' 

Gerzson's  first  feeling  on  reading  this  letter  was 
one  of  relief — evidently  Henrietta  was  not  angry 
with  him  or  she  would  not  have  alluded  to  herself 
as  his  daughter!  There  must  therefore  have  been 
some  other  reason  for  her  turnino-  back  other  than 


348  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

the  squabble  between  them  which  Hátszegi  had  so 
industriously  circulated.  Well,  he  would  settle 
accounts  with  Hátszegi  presently. 

What  he  found  especially  hard  to  understand, 
however,  was  the  mysterious  warning  contained 
in  the  letter. 

"Well,  my  dear  parson,"  he  said  to  himself,  ''I 
very  much  regret  having  to  arouse  you  from  your 
slumbers,  but  there's  nothing  else  to  be  done," 
and,  unscrewing  the  coach  lamp,  he  took  it  with 
him  and  went  towards  the  house. 

The  hall  door  was  closed,  he  had  to  shake  it. 

The  parson  was  evidently  still  awake,  his  voice 
resounded  from  within  the  house :  "All  good 
spirits  praise  the  Lord !" 

"Amen!  'Tis  I  who  am  at  the  door.  Let  me 
in  reverend  father." 

The  priest  immediately  opened  the  door  and, 
full  of  amazement,  asked  Mr.  Gerzson  what  had 
happened. 

"Read  that !"  said  Gerzson  handing  him  the  let- 
ter and  lighting  him  with  the  lamp. 

"This  is  the  baroness's  writing,"  said  the  priest, 
who  immediately  recognized  the  script. 

"What  do  you  say  to  its  contents?" 

"I  say  that  you  must  get  away  from  this  place 
immediately.  I  quite  comprehend  the  meaning 
of  the  baroness's  directions." 

"What !  fly  from  a  man  whom  I  have  just  called 
out?" 


THE  UNDISCOVERABLE  LADY     349 

"No,  you  must  fly  from  the  man  you  have  not 
called  out." 

"I  don't  understand." 

"You  will  one  day,  but  there  is  no  time  for  par- 
leying now.  First  of  all,  put  on  my  garments, 
\\  hile  Í  dress  up  in  peasants'  clothes." 

"Why?" 

"Why !  Because  I  must  be  your  guide  through 
the  mountains.  I  cannot  trust  another  to  do  you 
that  service.    Do  quickly  what  I  tell  you." 

The  priest  gave  his  orders  to  Mr.  Gerzson  with 
imperious  brevity,  but  that  gentleman,  even  in  his 
present  situation,  could  not  divest  himself  of  his 
homely  humour,  and  as  he  was  donning  the  par- 
son's long  cassock  and  pressed  the  broad  brimmed 
clerical  hat  down  upon  his  head,  he  fell  a  laughing 
at  the  odd  figure  he  cut. 

"Deuce  take  it!"  he  cried.  "I  never  imagined 
that  I  should  ever  be  turned  into  a  parson." 

But  the  priest  was  angry  at  the  untimely  jest 
and  turning  savagely  upon  Squire  Gerzson,  said : 
"Sir,  this  is  no  time  for  jesting,  we  are  both  of  us 
standing  on  the  very  threshold  of  death." 

Gerzson  was  no  coward,  nor  did  he  trouble  him- 
self very  much  about  death,  but  the  emphatic  tone 
of  the  parson  at  least  induced  him.  at  last,  to  take 
the  matter  seriously. 

"Then  according  to  that  you  also  are  in  dan- 
ger on  my  account  ?" 

"Ask  no  questions !  I  knew  what  would  happen 
when  I  gave  you  a  night's  lodging." 


350  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

Then  he  took  out  of  a  drawer  a  packet  of  let- 
ters and  bade  Gerzson  put  them  in  the  pocket  of 
his  cassock  as  the  coat  he  was  wearing  had  no 
pockets. 

"Why  do  you  take  these  with  you?" 

"Because  I  fear  to  leave  them  here,  and  also 
because  I  believe  I  shall  never  return  to  this  house 
any  more.  I  have  one  request  to  make  of  you  and 
that  is  that  you  will  read  these  letters  and  keep 
the  contents  to  yourself."  Gerzson  promised  to 
do  so. 

It  was  just  as  the  descending  moon  seemed  to 
be  resting  on  the  summits  of  the  mountains  that 
the  priest  and  his  guest  quitted  the  quiet  little 
house  by  way  of  the  garden.  The  night  which 
covered  the  retreat  of  the  fugitives  was  pitch 
dark.  Nobody  but  one  who  had  been  accustomed 
to  that  district  for  years  and  knew  all  its  ins  and 
outs  could  have  found  a  path  through  those 
wooded  gorges. 

By  the  morning  light  the  fugitives  perceived 
the  little  posting  station  on  the  high  road.  There 
the  priest  exchanged  clothes  with  Gerzson  and 
resumed  his  clerical  attire. 

"Nothing  can  detain  us  now,"  said  the  priest, 
"you  can  procure  post  horses  here  and  return 
home,  but  I  go  in  an  opposite  direction." 

"Whither?" 

"The  world  is  wide.  Do  not  trouble  yourself 
about  me.  In  a  month's  time  we  shall  meet  again." 

"Where?" 


THE  UNDISCOVERABLE  LADY     35 1 

"At  this  very  place." 

The  priest  hastily  quitted  Gerzson  and  returned 
towards  the  forest,  while  the  latter  went  on  to  the 
little  town,  where  he  speedily  got  post  horses. 

When  now  he  found  himself  sitting  all  safe  and 
sound,  in  the  carriage,  it  suddenly  struck  him  how 
remarkably  odd  it  was  that  he  and  the  parson 
should  have  actually  fled  away  from  a  non-exist- 
ent danger.  How  they  would  laugh  at  him  from 
one  end  of  the  kingdom  to  the  other!  Suppose 
Henrietta  had  been  playing  a  practical  joke  upon 
him !  But  then,  on  the  other  hand,  Henrietta  was 
not  of  that  sort — so  he  consoled  himself. 

But  there  was  another  thing  which  bothered 
him  a  good  deal.  The  coachman  had  been  left 
behind  with  the  four  horses  and  would  not  know 
what  to  make  of  the  disappearance  of  his  master 
and  the  priest.  When,  however,  the  post  chaise 
stopped  in  front  of  his  house  at  Arad  who  should 
he  see  coming  to  meet  him  through  the  gate  but 
this  very  coachman  whose  astonishment  at  the 
meeting  was  even  greater  than  his  master's.  And 
then,  to  the  amazement  of  the  postillion,  master 
and  servant  fell  upon  each  other's  necks  and  em- 
braced each  other  again  and  again. 

"Come  into  the  house."  said  Mr.  Gerzson  at 
last,  "and  tell  me  what  befell  you.  I  don't  want 
you  to  bellow  it  out  here  before  all  the  world." 

"I  hardly  know  how  to  put  it.  sir,  but  I  will  tell 
it  you  as  best  I  can.  After  watering  the  horses. 
I  lay  down  and  went  to  sleep.     A  loud  neighing 


v352  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

suddenly  awoke  me  and,  looking  around,  I  saw  a 
great  light.  The  parson's  house  was  all  in  flames. 
Up  I  was  in  a  jiffy  and  ran  to  the  door  to  call  your 
honour  but  I  found  the  door  was  locked  from  the 
inside.  I  then  ran  to  the  windows  and  found 
that  the  shutters  were  nailed  down  over  them. 
What  horrified  me  most  of  all,  however,  was  that 
nobody  came  from  the  castle  to  put  the  fire  out. 
Then  I  began  to  roar  for  help  and  while  I  was 
roaring  and  running  up  and  down  looking  for  an 
axe  with  which  to  batter  in  the  door — 'burum !  bu- 
rum!'  I  heard  two  shots  and  the  bullets  whistled 
to  the  right  and  left  about  my  ears.  At  that  all 
my  pluck  went  down  to  my  heels ;  I  rushed  under 
the  shelter  of  the  barn,  cut  the  tether  ropes  of  the 
horses,  swung  myself  up  on  to  the  saddle  horse, 
driving  the  others  before  me,  and  trotted  into 
Arad  without  once  stopping  to  water  them." 

So  he  had  reached  home  more  quickly  than 
Squire  Gerzson  himself. 

"Well,  my  son,"  said  Gerzson,  "all  that  you 
have  told  me  is  gospel  truth  I  have  no  doubt,  but 
say  not  a  word  of  it  to  anybody,  or  else  . 
(and  here  he  uttered  the  threat  which  the  ordinary 
Hungarian  common  folk  fear  most  of  all) — "or 
else  the  affair  will  come  before  the  courts  and  you 
will  have  to  give  testimony  on  oath." 

After  that  he  was  sure  of  the  fellow's  silence. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

THE   SHAKING   HAND 

Whoever  in  an  evil  hour  encountered  Fatia 
Negra  had  a  shaking  hand  for  the  rest  of  his  hfe. 

Ever  since  that  meeting  at  the  csárda  Henriet- 
ta's hand  also  trembled  to  such  an  extent  that  it 
was  only  with  the  utmost  difficulty  that  she  could 
sign  her  own  name. 

What  happened  to  her  after  that  meeting? 
Whom  did  she  recognize  in  Fatia  Negra?  How 
did  she  get  home? — all  these  things  remained 
eternal  secrets.  The  lady  was  never  able  to  tell  it 
to  anybody.  Perchance  she  herself  regarded  it 
as  a  dream. 

The  poor  lady  used  now  to  pray  all  day.  For 
hours  at  a  time  she  would  kneel  before  the  altar 
of  the  castle  chapel  returning  thence  to  her  per- 
petual walking  to  and  fro,  to  and  fro,  kneeling 
down  to  pray  again  when  she  was  tired  out.  And 
so  she  went  on  from  morning  to  evening,  nay,  till 
late  into  the  night,  sometimes  till  midnight,  some- 
times till  the  dawn  of  the  next  day.  up  and  down, 
up  and  down,  between  four  walls,  and  then  on  her 
knees  again  a-praying. 

She  never  appeared  in  the  dining-room ;  her 
meals   were    sent   to    her    room.      She    scarcely 

553 


354  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

touched  them,  it  was  difficult  to  understand  how 
she  kept  body  and  soul  together. 

She  only  quitted  her  chamber  to  go  to  chapel. 
At  such  times  she  would  frequently  meet  do- 
mestics or  strangers  in  the  castle  corridors,  but 
she  looks  at  nobody  and  says  not  a  word.  She 
does  not  notice  that  they  are  there,  that  they  are 
amazed  at  her,  that  they  greet  her.  No  one  has 
heard  her  speak  for  a  long  time. 

And  therefore  they  think  her  mad.  At  first 
only  the  domestics  whispered  this  among  them- 
selves, then  the  villagers — and  in  a  month's  time 
it  was  notorious  through  Transylvania  that  the 
youthful  Baroness  Hátszegi  was  out  of  her  mind. 

Early  one  morning,  as  Henrietta  was  returning 
from  chapel,  there  suddenly  appeared  before  her  a 
ragged  woman  who  must  have  been  hidden  in 
some  niche  as  the  servants  had  not  seen  her  or 
driven  her  out. 

"Stop  one  moment,  my  lady,"  whispered  the 
woman  and  Henrietta  seemed  to  hear  in  that  whis- 
per the  voice  of  an  old  acquaintance,  though  she 
did  not  recognize  the  face.  It  was  half  masked  in 
a  cloth  and  the  little  she  could  see  of  it  was  dis- 
figured by  wounds  and  scars  like  the  face  of  one 
who  had  been  badly  injured  by  fire.  Henrietta 
was  horrified  at  the  sight  of  her,  she  looked  so 
dreadful. 

"Don't  be  frightened,  my  lady,"  said  the  woman 
falling  down  on  her  knees  before  her  and  seizing 


THE  SHAKING  HAND  355 

Henrietta's  dress  to  prevent  her  from  escaping,  "I 
am  Anicza." 

Henrietta  fixed  her  eyes  upon  the  woman 
full  of  stupid  amazement,  and  vainly  sought 
in  her  face  for  some  trace  of  the  ideal  love- 
liness which  only  the  other  day,  so  it  seemed,  had 
made  her  so  charming.  She  began  to  fancy  that 
the  woman  was  under  some  evil  spell  and  that  if 
anyone  could  but  repeat  the  talismanic  word,  her 
former  loveliness  would  be  restored  to  her. 

"You  cannot  recognize  me  your  ladyship  for 
my  face  was  burnt  to  death  in  the  Lucsia  Cavern. 
Oh,  if  it  had  only  always  been  what  it  is  now.  I 
am  much  better  as  I  am  now.  God  has  punished 
me  because  I  let  my  soul  be  lost  for  the  sake  of 
my  fair  face.  I  am  not  vain  now  as  I  used  to  be. 
Yes,  God  has  smitten  all  of  us  on  account  of  our 
sins,  as  your  ladyship  already  knows ;  but  none 
has  he  smitten  so  hard  as  me.  I  denounced  all 
my  kinsfolk  and  acquaintances  to  the  tribunal 
to  be  avenged  on  one  man  who  had  deceived  me, — 
all  of  them  were  taken  except  him  and  he  es- 
caped. And  now  I  am  a  beggar,  an  accursed  crea- 
ture whom  everyone  drives  from  his  door,  but 
what  care  I  ? — I  never  feel  hungry.  They  took 
away  all  my  father's  property — heaven  only 
knows  how  much  there  was,  more  than  twenty 
thousand  ducats,  I  think,  and  it  would  have  been 
mine  for  I  am  his  only  child.  I  was  summoned 
before  the  court,  they  said  they  would  reward  me 
for  denouncing  the  society,  they  said  they  would 


356  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

give  me  a  thousand  ducats.  Ha,  ha,  ha !  a  thou- 
sand ducats  for  making  myself  the  wretched  crea- 
ture I  am!  But  I  did  not  come  here  to  frighten 
your  ladyship,  I  came  here  to  humbly  beg  a  favour. 
Gracious  lady,  the  magistrates  told  me  that  a 
mixed  commission  will  be  appointed  to  try  the 
forgers  and  that  his  lordship,  the  baron,  will  be 
the  president  of  this  commission ;  on  him  depends 
the  life  and  death  of  everyone  concerned. 

Henrietta  felt  obliged  to  lean  against  the  wall. 

"My  lady,  I  do  not  expect  impossibilities,  I  can- 
not wish  that  the  guilty  should  remain  unpunished 
— justice  is  justice!  But  the  leader  of  the  whole 
gang  was  Fatia  Negra,  he  planned  everything,  the 
others  only  carried  out  his  orders.  And  now 
there  is  a  lot  of  false  witnesses  ready  to  swear 
that  my  father  was  the  ring-leader  and  throw  all 
the  blame  upon  him,  but  it  was  Fatia  Negra  and 
nobody  else  as  God  knows." 

Every  time  the  peasant  woman  mentioned  Fa- 
tia Negra's  name  a  spasmodic  twitch  convulsed 
Henrietta's  pale  features. 

"Gracious  lady,"  continued  Anicza,  "I  implore 
you  by  the  tender  mercies  of  God  not  to  aban- 
don me.  Grant  me  my  petition !  Either  let  them 
kill  me  or  lock  me  up  with  the  others.  I  implore 
you,  my  lady,  to  speak  or  write  to  your  husband 
(if  these  things  must  be  in  writing)  on  my  behalf. 
Do  not  let  me  perish.  God  will  not  be  angry  with 
you  for  protecting  me." 

Henrietta  was  now  even  less  able  to  speak  than 


THE  SHAKING  HAND  357 

before.  But  though  she  could  not  express  herself 
in  words,  she  placed  one  hand  on  the  girl's  head 
and  raised  the  other  tremulous  hand  to  heaven,  as 
one  who  takes  a  solemn  oath  before  God.  Then 
she  tore  herself  away  from  Anicza,  who  had 
stooped  to  kiss  the  hem  of  her  garment,  and  has- 
tened back  to  her  own  room.  On  reaching  the 
threshold  of  the  house  she  looked  back  and  saw 
that  the  girl  had  sunk  down  in  the  dust  and  was 
gratefully  kissing  the  very  traces  of  the  footsteps 
of  the  departing  lady. 

On  reaching  her  room  Henrietta  paced  up  and 
down  it  for  a  long  time,  wringing  her  hands  as 
she  went  and  moaning  loudly:  "My  God!  my 
God!"  Then  she  flung  herself  down  on  her  couch, 
writhing  like  one  in  mortal  agony. 

But  soon  she  strengthened  her  heart  and  sat 
down  at  the  writing-table.  What  had  become  of 
that  beautiful  handwriting  of  hers  which  had  re- 
sembled copper  plate?  Scarcely  legible  letters  now 
issued  from  her  trembling  hand,  dumb  witnesses 
of  the  terror  of  her  heart,  and  yet  write  she  must 
for  it  was  her  petition  to  her  husband.  Ah !  that 
she  should  be  forced  to  write  to  him. 

Her  letter  was  as  follows : 

**Dread  Sir  :  Tremulously  and  submissively  I 
approach  you.  In  the  name  of  an  unhappy  crea- 
ture I  appeal  to  your  compassion.  You  will  be  the 
judge  of  a  lot  of  wretched  men.  Be  merciful  to 
them.  By  the  grace  of  heaven  I  implore  you,  con- 
demn them  not!    In  the  name  of  God,  I  implore 


358  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

you  not  to  sign  their  death  warrants.  By  the  ter- 
rors of  eternity  I  implore  you  do  not  ruin  these 
men,  for  they  are  most  innocent.     N.  N." 

She  durst  not  subscribe  her  own  name. 

And  now  she  waited,  she  watched  for  the  mo- 
ment when  Leonard  quitted  his  room  and,  sHp- 
ping  in,  laid  the  petition  on  the  couch  where 
he  would  be  sure  to  find  it.    Nobody  observed  her. 

The  same  day  she  encountered  him,  she  had  in 
fact  sought  for  such  an  encounter.  It  was  in  the 
great  armoury.  Leonard,  as  soon  as  he  perceived 
his  wife,  began  humming  some  mad  operatic  tune, 
an  opera  bouííé  air  and  bawled  through  the  door 
to  the  dog-keeper  to  unleash  the  hounds. 

The  pale  lady  nevertheless  approached  him, 
with  tottering  but  determined  footsteps,  and  fold- 
ing both  her  trembling  hands  as  if  in  prayer,  stood 
mutely  in  front  of  the  door  through  which  Leon- 
ard would  have  to  pass,  like  some  dumb  spirit 
from  another  world.  But  Leonard  merely 
shrugged  his  shoulders  and  passed  her  by,  whis- 
tling all  the  time. 

Again,  on  the  following  day,  the  timid  petition 
lay  on  Leonard's  table,  written  in  the  same  tremu- 
lous characters.  Henrietta  had  written  it  again, 
and  again  had  crept  into  his  chamber  and  in  what- 
ever part  of  the  house  the  magnate  might  now  be 
found,  he  everywhere  encountered  this  pale  tremu- 
lous figure  who  pressing  her  hands  together  and 
without  uttering  a  word  gazed  at  him  beseech- 
ingly, imploringly — only  they  two  knew  why. 


THE  SHAKING  HAND  359 

On  the  third  day  Leonard  again  found  the  peti- 
tion and  again  encountered  Henrietta. 

This  time  he  spoke  to  her. 

*'My  dear  Henrietta,  have  you  read  *  The  Mys- 
teries of  Paris  ?' 

Henrietta,  as  usual,  only  stared  at  the  speaker 
with  frightened  eyes  and  said  nothing. 

"How  did  you  like  the  description  of  Bicetre? 
A  horrible  place,  eh?  I  have  noticed  that  you 
have  been  behaving  in  rather  a  peculiar  way  lately. 
In  fact,  the  whole  district  has  been  talking  about  it 
and  saying  that  you  are  a  little  crazy.  I  have 
been  asked  all  sorts  of  questions  about  it  too. 
— Hitherto  I  have  always  told  everybody  that  it  is 
not  true. — But  if  once  I  should  say  that  it  is  true, 
then,  you  will  be  most  certainly  shut  up  in  a  mad 
house.    Regulate  your  conduct  accordingly." 


CHAPTER  XX 

THE    FIGHT    FOR    THE    GOLD 

Of  late  Mr.  Gerzson  Satrakovics  had   invented 
for  himself  a  peciihar  sort  of  pastime. 

He  had  renounced  bear  hounds  and  grey  hounds 
and  all  other  kinds  of  dogs,  he  did  not  care  a  jot 
when  partridge  shooting  began,  but  he  hung  up  his 
gun  on  a  nail  and  began  regularly  visiting  one 
after  another  the  session  courts  of  the  counties  of 
Arad,  Biehar  and  Temes,  in  all  of  which  he  was  a 
justice  of  the  peace,  and  moving  resolutions. 

The  object  of  these  resolutions  was  to  induce 
the  three  counties  to  endeavour  with  their  united 
strength,  and  in  conjunction  with  the  Transylva- 
nian  counties  of  Hunyad,  Fehér  and  Zarand,  to 
extirpate  the  robber  bands  that  had  so  long  been 
terrorizing  the  whole  district.  He  compiled  lists 
of  the  atrocities  perpetrated  in  the  various  locali- 
ties and  connected  them  all  with  the  name  of  one 
particular  robber,  the  notorious  "Fatia  Negra." 
He  produced  convincing  proofs  of  the  existence 
of  a  combination  extending  from  the  depths  of 
the  dungeons  to  the  summits  of  the  mountains 
which  was  held  together  by  the  magic  influence 
of  this  one  man  and  he  left  no  stone  unturned  to 
bring  him  to  book. 

He,  naturally,  became  quite  a  laughing  stock 
360 


THE  FIGHT  FOR  THE  GOLD       361 

for  his  pains,  and  his  acquaintances  could  not  for 
the  life  of  them  understand  what  had  come  to  the 
man. 

"Why,  old  fellow!"  said  Count  Kengyelesy  to 
him  one  day,  after  he  had  been  indulging  in  an  un- 
usually fiery  philippic  at  Quarter  Sessions,  "why, 
old  fellow,  what  sort  of  venom  have  you  swallowed 
that  makes  you  perorate  so  savagely  against  this 
worthy  Fatia  Negra.  If  anybody  has  cause  to 
complain  against  him  it  is  I,  for  he  relieved  me  of 
1,000  ducats  on  the  high  road,  and  so  cleverly  did 
the  rascal  manage  it,  that  I  cannot  find  it  in  my 
heart  to  bear  him  any  ill-will.  But  what  have  you 
got  to  do  with  him  I  should  like  to  know  ?  What 
is  all  this  cock  and  bull  story  you  keep  on  spouting 
out  concerning  organized  robber  bands  and  mys- 
terious chieftains?  Is  it  your  ambition,  my 
friend,  to  become  public  prosecutor?" 

"Yes,  it  is,  and  public  prosecutor  I  will  be,  too. 
I  want  six  counties  to  place  their  armed  constabu- 
lary at  my  beck  and  call,  and  if  they  do,  I'll  wager 
that  ril  so  purify  all  these  Alpine  regions  that 
the  robbers  will  not  have  a  single  lurking  hole 
left." 

"Rubbish !  Don't  make  a  fool  of  yourself.  Be- 
sides, they  say  that  Fatia  Negra  has  flown  to 
America." 

"Newspaper  lies.    He  is  here.  I  know  he  is." 

"And  suppose  he  is,  what  harm  can  he  do?  This 
band  has  been  cut  off  to  the  very  last  man.  They 
have  all  been  sentenced  heavily,  the  older  men  to 


302  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

twenty  years  penal  servitude,  the  younger  men  to 
penal  servitude  for  life.  I  had  it  from  Hátszegi 
himself  who  was  the  president  of  the  mixed  com- 
mission that  tried  them,  and  signed  the  judgment 
himself.  The  whole  fraternity  is  now  sitting  in 
chains  in  the  trenches  of  Gyula  Fehérvár  and  we 
have  seen  the  last  of  it." 

"What  guarantee  have  you  of  that?" 

"What  guarantee? — why  the  security  of  the 
whole  region  ever  since.  Why,  everyone  there 
can  now  sleep  with  open  doors  and  if  you  your- 
self were  to  lie  dead  drunk  in  the  public  thorough- 
fare you  would  not  have  your  money  stolen  from 
your  pocket  any  more." 

Squire  Gerzson  protested  vehemently  against 
the  assumption  that  he  was  in  the  habit  of  sprawl- 
ing tipsily  on  the  king's  high  road. 

"I'll  tell  you,"  said  he,  "why  everything  is  so 
secure  just  now.  The  confiscated  gold  of  Fatia 
Negra  is  still  at  Gyula  Fehérvár,  as  a  forfeit  to 
the  crown,  and,  sooner  or  later,  must  be  sent  to 
Vienna.  Fatia  Negra  is  not  dead,  his  robber  band 
has  not  been  captured  and  does  not  sit  in  irons  at 
Gyula  Fehérvár,  and  the  present  tranquillity  and 
imagined  security  suit  their  plans  nicely.  The 
band  now  pretends  to  have  vanished,  but  just  you 
wait  till  the  gold  is  sent  under  convoy  from  Gyula 
Fehérvár  to  Vienna — and  you  will  see  some  fun." 

"How  do  you  know  that?" 

"I  know  it  sir,  because  I  know  that  this  man, 
this  brazen  faced,  iron-fisted  man  is  not  such  a 


THE  FIGHT  FOR  THE  GOLD       363 

chicken-hearted  creature  as  to  allow  a  half-million 
or  so  to  be  snatched  from  him  without  stirring 
every  nerve  and  muscle  to  try  and  win  it  back 
again.  For  I  know  that  hitherto  he  has  always 
triumphed  over  the  power  of  the  law  and  has 
always  escaped  from  the  most  dangerous  am- 
bushes." 

"Well,  all  I  can  say  is  that  I  do  not  understand 
what  you  have  to  do  with  this  worthy  man." 

:(:  5(:  íK  íK  Hi  *  5(5 

The  falsely  coined  gold  pieces  deposited  at 
Gyula  Fehérvár,  had,  after  the  trial  was  over,  to 
be  sent  to  Hungary  to  be  recoined.  The  precious 
consignment  filled  two  post-wagons  and  was  of 
the  estimated  value  of  a  million  and  a  half.  Four 
and  twenty  Uhlans  were  told  off  to  escort  it. 
This  was  a  more  than  sufficient  protection  for  the 
most  costly  treasure  at  ordinary  times.  More- 
over, in  Hungary,  cavalry  has  always  inspired  the 
mob  with  terror.  During  the  disturbances  at 
the  time  of  the  cholera  outbreak,  two  squadrons 
of  Hussars  were  easily  able  to  quell  the  whole  riot. 
It  was  impossible  to  calculate  how  many  robbers 
and  peasants  the  four  and  twenty  Uhlans  were 
capable  of  coping  with.  So,  at  least,  the  county 
magistrates  believed. 

The  soldiers  were  commanded  by  a  lieutenant, 
the  post-wagons  were  under  the  charge  of  an  offi- 
cial accountant  and  a  comptroller.  All  the  postill- 
ions were  provided  with  pistols  and  it  was  strictly 
ordered  that  the  wagons  were  not  to  travel  on  the 


364  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

high-road  after  six  o'clock.  There  was  no  lack 
of  precaution,  anyhow ! 

Now  when  the  post  wagons  had  reached  the 
celebrated  Bridge  of  Piski,*  lo,  there  and  then, 
face  to  face,  four  and  twenty  horsemen  came, 
riding  towards  them  from  the  opposite  side  of  the 
bridge  and  the  five  and  twentieth  was  Fatia 
Negra. 

All  the  four  and  twenty  had  black  crape  wound 
round  their  faces,  their  clothes  had  the  lining 
turned  outwards  and  they  were  well  provided  with 
swords,  csákánys'  and  muskets.  Fatia  Negra 
himself  rode  a  vigorous  black  stallion  and  held 
in  his  hand  a  broad,  naked  sword. 

The  horse  of  the  Uhlan  lieutenant  took  fright  at 
the  sight  of  the  black  faces  and  began  to  rear,  it 
was  as  much  as  his  rider  could  do  to  prevent  him 
from  springing  over  the  parapet  of  the  bridge. 

Fatia  Negra  and  his  band  halted  in  the  centre 
of  the  bridge  and  did  not  budge  from  the  spot. 

The  lieutenant  was  a  brave  soldier,  who  never 
lost  his  presence  of  mind ;  he  tightened  the  reins 
of  his  plunging  horse  and  turning  towards  Black- 
Mask,  exclaimed :  "  Who  are  you,  what  do  you 
want,  and  why  do  you  block  up  the  bridge?" 

A  deep,  thundrous  manly  voice  replied  to  him 
from  afar:  "I  am  Fatia  Negra.  The  treasure 
which  you  have  with  you  is  mine, — it  has  been 
stolen  from  me.     I  now  want  to  have  it  back 

♦  It  was  here  that  a  small  band  of  Hungarians  under  Czsez  and 
Kureny  held  a  whole  Austrian  army  at  bay  on  Feb.  9,  1849.— ?V. 
■'■  Hooked  axes. 


THE  FIGHT  FOR  THE  GOLD       365 

again,  I  have  brought  hither  a  man  to  e^•ery  man 
of  yours,  we  are  as  strong  as  you.  I  meet  yuu 
openly  in  the  Hght  of  day.  Give  me  back  my  gold 
or  you  shall  have  a  taste  of  my  iron." 

The  lieutenant,  who  was  one  of  the  best  swords- 
men and  one  of  the  bravest  heroes  in  the  regiment, 
did  not  think  twice  about  accepting  the  challenge, 
but  put  spurs  to  his  steed  and  fell  upon  the  ad- 
venturer who  awaited  him  in  the  middle  of  the 
bridge.  / 

He  encountered  a  terrible  antagonist.  Fatia 
Negra  warded  every  blow  and  countered  in- 
stantly; the  young  officer  was  thrown  into  con- 
fusion by  the  superior  dexterity  of  his  opponent, 
and  it  was  only  a  soldier's  sense  of  honour  that  in- 
duced him  to  continue  an  attack  which  was  bound 
to  end  fatally  for  himself :  practised  fencers  al- 
ways know  at  once  whether  they  can  vanquish 
their  antagonist  or  not.  At  the  same  time  it  was 
really  surprising  that  Fatia  Negra  did  not  imme- 
diately take  advantage  of  his  strength  and  skill. 
He  seemed  to  be  sparing  his  enemy,  nay,  he  even 
retreated  before  him  step  by  step. 

Meanwhile  the  melee  on  the  bridge  had  become 
general.  The  lancers  hastened  to  the  assistance 
of  their  leader,  the  black  masks  slashed  away  at 
them  with  their  csákánys.  and  soon  there  were 
very  few  among  the  combatants  who  had  not  re- 
ceived a  lance  thrust  or  a  csákány  blow.  The 
adventurers  were  forced  by  the  lancers  to  the  op- 
posite end  of  the  bridge,  when  the  miller,  who 


366  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

lived  in  the  mill  beside  the  bridge,  thrust  his  head 
out  of  the  window  and  shouted :  "Take  care,  sol- 
diers !  the  beams  of  the  bridge  have  been  sawn 
through !" 

Was  this  the  fact  ?  Was  it  the  plan  of  the  ad- 
venturers to  entice  the  horses  on  to  the  bridge  in 
order  that  it  might  break  down  beneath  their 
weight? — or  was  the  miller  also  an  accomplice 
and  only  shouted  this  because  the  soldiers  were 
gaining  the  upperhand  ?  In  either  case  the  warn- 
ing cry  had  a  magical  effect  upon  the  pursuers,  for 
they  immediately  turned  back  in  alarm  and  strove 
to  reach  their  own  end  of  the  bridge  again. 

And  now  they  perceived  what  a  two  fold  trap 
the  cunning  adventurers  had  set  for  them,  for 
whilst  the  lancers  had  been  fighting  with  the 
mounted  robbers,  a  large  band  of  footpads  armed 
with  firearms  had  surrounded  the  post  wagons  in 
their  rear,  disarmed  the  postillions  and  were  now 
engaged  in  attempting  to  overturn  the  wagons 
into  the  ditch  by  the  roadside. 

The  lancers  dashed  towards  the  wagons  and 
freed  them  in  a  moment  from  the  hands  of  the 
mob  which,  on  their  appearance,  dispersed  among 
the  brushwood  by  the  roadside  from  whence  they 
began  firing. 

Not  far  from  the  bridge  was  a  csárda,  and  there 
the  cavalry  and  the  post-wagons  sought  a  refuge. 
And  indeed  they  needed  it.  The  number  of  the 
footpads  armed  with  guns  was  about  a  couple  of 
hundred ;  they  enfiladed  the  whole  road  and,  more 


THE  FIGHT  FOR   THE  GOLD       367 

than  that,  it  was  easy  to  perceive  that  some  of  the 
tall  roadside  poplars  had  been  sawn  through  be- 
forehand so  that  they  might  be  made  to  fall  down 
and  thus  make  it  impossible  for  the  post  wagons 
across  the  road  behind  the  backs  of  the  soldiers, 
to  force  their  way  through. 

The  soldiers  had,  indeed,  no  reason  to  fear  that 
the  rabble,  nine-tenths  of  which  had  no  professional 
knowledge  of  the  art  of  war,  would  boldly  storm 
the  csárda,  for  in  such  a  case  the  soldiers  would 
know  how  to  defend  themselves  vigourously,  well 
provided  as  they  were  with  carbines;  but  they 
were  well  aware  of  one  thing,  to  wit,  that  if  they 
allowed  themselves  to  be  surprised  after  nightfall 
they  were  lost,  for  the  robbers  could  then  set  fire 
to  the  house  over  their  heads  and  burn  them  alive. 

For  their  lives  they  cared  nothing ;  it  is  a  sol- 
dier's business  to  die ;  but  how  to  save  the  enor- 
mous sum  of  money  intrusted  to  them — that  was 
the  problem.  Four  and  twenty  horsemen  in  a 
solid  mass  might,  with  a  desperate  effort,  cut  their 
w^ay  through  a  mob,  despite  every  obstacle,  but 
to  take  the  heavy  wagons  along  with  them  was  im- 
possible, for  the  road  in  front  was  barred  by  the 
mob ;  the  bridge  and  the  road  behind  by  the  felled 
poplars. 

Fortunately,  the  ot^cer  in  command  had  read 
the  history  of  Napoleon's  Russian  campaign  and 
he  recollected  how  the  guard  on  one  occasion  had 
saved  the  military  chest  from  the  Cossacks  when 
the  wagon,  from  want  of  horses,  had  to  be  left 


368  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

behind.  He  now  applied  his  knowledge  practi- 
cally. 

The  ducats  were  taken  out  of  the  post-wagons 
and  distributed  among  the  soldiers;  knapsacks, 
cartridge-boxes,  belts  and  shakos  were  filled  with 
the  treasure;  not  a  cent  was  left  in  the  wagons, 
yet  they  nailed  down  the  chests  inside  them  care- 
fully that  it  might  take  all  the  longer  to  break 
them  open.  Then  they  mounted  the  postilions 
and  the  civilians  on  the  spare  horses,  hastily  threw 
open  the  gates  and  the  whole  band  rushed  into  the 
courtyard. 

A  sharp  volley  poured  in  upon  them  from  every 
side ;  some  of  them  were  wounded,  but  none  mor- 
tally, for  their  assailants  either  fired  from  afar  or 
aimed  badly.  And  this  was  well,  for  every  dead 
man  among  them  would  have  been  worth  100,000 
guldens. 

Fatia  Negra  and  his  horsemen  stood  close  at 
hand  with  their  loaded  muskets  pointed  in  their 
hands,  but  they  did  not  fire. 

"Let  the  lancers  run  if  they  like!"  cried  Fatia 
Negra.     "Give  all  your  attention  to  the  wagons!" 

The  cavalry  soon  escaped  from  the  mob  of 
sharpshooters,  leaped  over  the  barriers  and  began 
galloping  rapidly  back  to  Széb  safe  and  sound. 
And  they  had  need  to  haste,  for  it  was  easy  to 
foresee  that  as  soon  as  the  cry  of  victory  behind 
their  backs  had  changed  into  a  cry  of  fury,  it 
would  be  a  sign  that  Fatia  Negra's  band  was 
rushine  after  them. 


THE  FIGHT  FOR  THE  GOLD       369 

And,  indeed,  scarce  a  quarter  of  an  hour  iiad 
elapsed,  when  they  could  perceive  clouds  of  dust 
whirling  up  behind  them  which  proved  that  the 
audacious  adventurers,  after  discovering  the 
fraud,  were  actually  in  pursuit. 

What  unheard  of  audacity !  In  broad  daylight, 
on  the  King's  highway,  w^ithin  the  borders  uf  a 
highly  civilized,  w'ell-organized  state,  a  troop  of 
adventurers  dares  to  attack  an  equal  number  of 
trained  soldiers.  Gold  must  have  turned  the  heads 
of  the  men  who  had  the  audacity  to  do  such  a 
thing !     Yet  they  did  it. 

The  soldiers  saw  the  cloud  of  dust  behind  their 
backs  gradually  draw  nearer,  the  neutral  ground 
between  gradually  diminished,  the  fellows  were 
capitally  mounted,  there  could  be  no  doubt  of 
that. 

The  lieutenant  ordered  his  men  to  halt  and  face 
the  foolhardy  bandits.  He  arranged  them  two 
deep  and  spread  them  out  so  that  they  extended 
right  across  the  road.  He  himself  stood  in  the 
centre  a  little  in  advance  of  the  rest ;  the  civilians 
were  in  the  rear. 

Presently  single  shapes  were  discernible 
through  the  approaching  cloud  of  dust.  The  rob- 
bers were  galloping  along  in  no  regular  order 
with  intervals  of  from  ten  to  twenty  yards  be- 
tween each  one  of  them. 

More  than  a  thousand  yards  in  front  of  his 
comrades  galloped  Fatia  Negra.  His  splendid 
English  thoroughbred,  as  if  it  w^ould  outstrip  the 


370  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

blast  which  whirled  the  dust  aloft,  flew  along  with 
him  and  seemed  to  share  the  blind  fury  of  his 
master  who  waved  his  flashing  sword  above  his 
horse's  head  and  bellowed  at  his  opponents  from 
afar  like  a  wild  beast, 

"We'll  seize  the  fellow  before  his  companions 
come  up,"  said  the  lieutenant  to  his  men.  "  Cut 
him  down  from  his  horse  and  capture  him  alive." 

"Hurrah !"  roared  the  lonely  horseman,  now 
only  a  yard  off.  "Hurrah !" — the  next  moment 
he  was  in  the  midst  of  them. 

And  now  began  a  contest  which,  had  it  been  re- 
corded in  the  chronicles  of  the  Crusades,  would 
have  been  regarded  as  an  act  of  heroism  that  only 
awaited  immortality  from  a  poet  great  enough  to 
sing  it.  Fatia  Negra,  alone  and  surrounded, 
fought  single-handed  in  the  midst  of  the  hostile 
band.  His  light  sword  flashing  in  his  hand  like 
lightning,  never  stayed  to  parry  but  attacked  in- 
cessantly. Handless  swords  and  headless  shakos 
flew  around  him  in  the  air  and  withersoever  his 
horse  turned  its  head,  an  empty  space  gaped  before 
him,  every  antagonist  retreating  before  him.  So 
close  was  the  melee  that  the  soldiers  stood  in  each 
other's  way  and  could  not  use  their  firearms  for 
fear  of  shooting  their  comrades.  The  lieutenant 
was  the  only  man  who  did  not  avoid  him.  Like 
a  true  soldier  who  considers  wounds  an  honour,  he 
did  not  trouble  himself  to  recollect  that  his  ad- 
versary was  superior  to  him  both  in  strength  and 
skill,   but   strove   incessantly   to   urge   his   horse 


THE  FIGHT  FOR  THE  GOLD       371 

towards  him.  Twice  he  struck  the  fellow  but  he 
did  not  seem  to  feel  the  blow.  Once  he  dealt  him 
a  skilful  thrust  in  the  side,  but  the  sword  bent 
nearly  double  without  entering  his  body.  "Ha,  ha, 
ha !"  laughed  Fatia  Negra — he  must  have  put  on  a 
coat  of  mail  beneath  his  jacket — and  the  same 
instant  he  countered  so  savagely  that  if  the  lieu- 
tenant had  not  dodged  his  head,  he  must  have  lost 
it.  As  it  was  the  sword  pierced  through  his  shako 
and  out  poured  the  gold  pieces  by  thousands  on  to 
the  highroad. 

At  the  sight  of  the  shower  of  gold  pieces,  Fatia 
Negra  roared  like  a  demon.  What  he  had  done 
hitlierto  was  a  mere  joke — now  the  battle  began 
in  grim  earnest. 

"Down  with  your  heads,  down  with  your  head- 
pieces !"  he  thundered,  and  with  the  fury  of  a  lion 
he  flung  himself  on  his  opponents,  everyone  of 
whom  wore  on  his  head  the  dangerous  magnet 
which  irresistibly  attracted  his  flashing  sword. 

He  himself  was  invulnerable.  Neither  sword 
nor  lance  could  penetrate  his  shirt  of  mail.  And 
meanwhile  his  companions  were  rapidly  galloping 
up.  Now  another  shako  flew  into  the  air  and  the 
horse's  hoofs  trampled  the  falling  ducats  in  the 
mud. 

"Shoot  down  his  horse!"  cried  the  voice  of  the 
post-office  functionary  from  the  rear,  and  the  same 
instant  three  pistol  shots  resounded.  At  the  third, 
which  struck  him  full  in  the  chest,  the  animal 
reared  high  in  the  air.     Fatia  Negra,  perceiving 


372  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

the  danger,  and  before  the  horse  had  time  to  fall 
and  crush  him,  leaped  from  the  saddle  on  to  the 
ground. 

And  now  he  attacked  the  enemy  on  foot.  lie 
was  blind  now.  He  saw  nothing  before  him  but 
blood  and  ducats — he  was  drunk  with  both. 

All  at  once  he  observed  that  he  was  alone,  and, 
fighting  the  air — he  no  longer  felt  the  contact  of 
swords,  or  skulls  or  human  bodies.  After  the 
officer  had  been  wounded,  the  post-office  function- 
ar}'^  took  the  command  and  concluded  it  advisable 
not  to  await  the  arrival  of  the  whole  robber  band. 
It  was  his  duty  to  save  the  money.  He  ordered 
the  soldiers  to  turn  back  and  make  the  best  of  their 
way  to  Szászvár,  the  money  that  had  been  already 
spilt  was  given  up  for  lost.  It  was  of  no  use  for 
mere  men  to  attempt  to  grapple  with  such  a  devil 
incarnate  as  Fatia  Negra. 

"After  them,  after  them! — Give  me  a  horse!" 
roared  Fatia  Negra  to  his  comrades  as  they  came 
galloping  up,  whereupon  they  all  leaped  from  their 
nags,  not  so  much  indeed  for  the  sake  of  giving 
him  a  mount  as  for  the  sake  of  grabbing  the  scat- 
tered heaps  of  ducats. 

"Let  that  alone;  it  won't  run  away"  cried  the 
adventurer.  "The  bulk  of  it  is  galloping  in  front 
of  us — follow  me!" 

And  at  that,  without  waiting  their  decision,  he 
seized  one  of  the  horses,  swung  himself  into  the 
saddle  and  dashed  after  the  lancers.  Nobody  fol- 
lowed him.     The  robbers  were  wise  enough  to 


THE  FIGHT  FOR  THE  GOLD       373 

perceive  that  if  they  left  lying  here  these  thous- 
ands of  ducats,  actually  won,  in  order  to  run  after 
ten  times  as  many  which  they  had  still  to  catch, 
(not  to  mention  the  broken  heads  which  they  were 
sure  to  get  into  the  bargain),  the  loafing  members 
of  the  confraternity  who  were  following  behind 
them  on  foot,  would  pocket  the  booty  nicely  at 
their  ease,  so  they  stayed  where  they  were,  with 
the  comfortable  persuasion  that  Fatia  Xegra 
would  be  sure  to  turn  back  when  he  perceived  he 
w^as  alone. 

He,  however,  never  gave  them  a  thought,  but 
putting  spurs  to  his  horse,  pursued  the  soldiers. 
In  vain.  He  had  no  longer  a  blood  horse  be- 
neath him  and  was  unable  to  overtake  the  bearers 
of  the  lost  treasure.  Nor  did  they  halt  again  to 
give  him  anything  to  do.  Looking  back  from 
time  to  time,  they  saw^  how  a  single  horseman  was 
galloping  after  them,  with  his  sword  blade  firmly 
gripped  between  his  teeth,  and  a  shuddering  recol- 
lection of  the  old  nursery  tales  of  nether-world 
monsters  came  over  them. 

The  solitary  horseman  pursued  them  right  up 
to  the  toll-house  of  Szászvár,  and  even  when  he 
gave  U]:>  the  pursuit  the  toll-man  saw  him  for  a 
long  time  trotting  round  about  the  outskirts  of  the 
town  shaking  his  fist  and  shouting  imprecations. 
Once  or  twice  he  drew  near  enough  to  fire  his  pis- 
tols through  the  doors  and  windows  of  the  toll- 
house, and  so  great  was  the  spell  of  terror  sur- 
rounding the  person  of  the  terrible  adventurer  that 


374  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

nobody  ventured  outside  the  city  wall  to  try  and 
capture  him;  nay,  the  burgesses  even  remained 
under  arms  in  the  streets  all  night  guarding  the 
principal  entrances  for  fear  lest  Fatia  Negra  and 
his  band  might  take  it  into  their  heads  to  formally 
besiege  the  place,  and,  had  it  only  depended  upon 
his  will  to  do  so,  he  would  assuredly  have  made 
the  attempt. 

But  it  never  came  to  that.  On  returning  to  the 
place  of  combat  Fatia  Negra  found  his  horsemen 
still  searching  in  the  mud  and  darkness  for  the  lost 
ducats,  and  made  an  attempt  to  reorganize  his 
band,  which  did,  indeed,  do  a  little  maurauding  on 
its  own  account ;  but  when  the  news  reached  him, 
through  one  of  his  paid  spies,  that  four  hundred 
infantry  with  a  cannon  had  reached  Szászvár 
from  Szeb — the  very  word  "a  connon"  had  such  an 
effect  upon  the  robbers  that  they  scattered  in  every 
direction  as  if  a  tempest  had  dispersed  them. 
Next  morning  there  was  not  a  trace  of  them  any- 
where. 


CHAPTER  XXI 

THE  HUNTED  BEAST 

Such  a  piece  of  audacity  could  not  be  over- 
looked. 

That  a  robber  horseman  should  in  the  middle  of 
the  nineteenth  century  and  within  the  confines  of  a 
civilized  state  take  it  into  his  head  to  attack,  in 
broad  daylight,  post  wagons  defended  by  a  strong 
escort  of  regular  soldiers — was  a  thing  unheard 
of. 

The  news  spread  like  lightning  through  the  six 
confederated  counties  and  everyone  seized  his 
sword  and  musket.  So  old  Gerzson  Satrakovics 
whom  everybody  had  laughed  at,  was  right 
after  all.  It  was  universally  agreed  that  a  stop 
must  be  put  to  this  sort  of  thing  once  for  all. 
There  was  no  waiting  now  for  the  meetings  of 
Quarter  Sessions.  The  lord-lieutenants  of  the 
counties  proclaimed  the  statárium*  called  out  the 
bandcriaj'  and  gathered  together  the  county  pan- 
ditrsX  and  the  militia,  in  order  by  their  combined 
efforts,  to  extirpate  the  evil  without  having  re- 
course to  the  assistance  of  the  military — a  measure 
always  repugnant  to  the  freedom-loving  Magyars. 

•  A  decree  authorizing  summary  procedure. 
+  Mounted  gentry. 
t  Police. 

375 


376  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

Squire  Gzerson  was  elected  the  leader  of  this 
vast  hunt,  whose  area  extended  over  hundreds  of 
square  miles,  by  all  the  six  counties  concerned — 
it  was  generally  felt  that  this  was  but  due  to  him 
for  the  neglect  of  his  warnings — and  Mr.  Gerzson 
proved  on  this  occasion  that  if  he  was  not  a  great 
strategist,  at  any  rate  he  was  a  great  beater  up  of 
game.  His  plan  was  to  occupy  all  the  mountain 
roads  and  passes  leading  out  of  the  six  counties 
with  armed  bands  of  militia,  while  at  the  same 
time  he  himself  advanced  slowly  along  the  high- 
roads with  his  gentlemen-volunteers  joining  hands 
together  from  place  to  place.  Between  various 
groups  of  the  volunteers  were  regular  lines  of 
pandurs  who  had  to  thoroughly  scour  all  the  for- 
ests they  came  to.  The  encircling  network  of  this 
gigantic  army  of  beaters  grew  narrower  and  nar- 
rower day  by  day  and  was  to  converge  towards  a 
fixed  point  which  Squire  Gerzson  said  he  would 
more  definitely  indicate  later  on. 

Moreover  there  was  a  flying  column  admitted 
to  the  full  confidence  of  its  leader,  whose  duty  it 
was  to  appear  suddenly  and  unexpectedly  in  all 
parts  of  the  closely  environed  region,  in  order  to 
head  off  anything  like  a  definite  plan  of  defence 
on  the  part  of  the  adventurers  and  track  them 
down  more  easily.  The  leadership  of  this  special 
corps  was  entrusted  to  young  Szilárd  Vamhidy, 
upon  whose  ingenuity,  determination  and  ability 
Squire  Gerzson  professed  to  place  the  utmost  reli- 
ance. 


THE  HUNTED  BEAST  377 

As  soon  as  he  had  received  this  important 
ciKirge,  Szilárd  took  horse  and  set  off  at  the  head 
of  his  four  and  twenty  pandurs.  First  of  all  he 
went  in  the  direction  of  the  Alps  of  Bihar  and 
along  á  narrow  mountain  path  and  through  a 
melancholy,  uncanny,  region  with  not  a  living 
plant  by  the  wayside  and  not  a  morsel  of  moss  on 
the  naked  rock.  No  sound  is  to  be  heard  there  but 
the  eternal  sighing  of  the  wind,  and  in  the  dizzy 
depths  below  the  traveller  sees  nothing  but  dense, 
dreary  forests  crowding  one  upon  another  with 
the  Alpine  eagles  circling  and  screaming  above 
them. 

It  was  just  the  place  for  a  hunted  band  of  rob- 
bers to  turn  upon  their  pursuers  for  a  last  life  and 
death  struggle, — here  where  even  the  bodies  of 
the  slain  would  never  be  found.  For  not  once  in 
two  vears  does  a  wanderer  chance  to  come  this 
way.  and  long  before  that  time  the  wolves  and  the 
vultures  will  have  dispersed  the  bones  of  the  fallen. 
Yet  this  time  the  robber  bands  did  not  fall  in 
with  their  pursuers,  a  sufficient  proof  that  Szi- 
lard's  plan  was  skilfully  laid  and  unanticipated. 
For  had  Fatia  Negra  had  any  idea  of  his  design, 
it  is  absolutely  inconceivable  that  he  would  not 
have  laid  in  wait  for  him  on  this  spectre-haunted 
path,  where  ten  resolute  men  could  have  held  a 
whole  army  at  l:)ay. 

For  hours  Szilard's  long  troop  of  horsemen  pur- 
sued their  way  along  without  meeting  a  soul. 
Late  in  the  afternoon  they  came  upon  the  first 


378  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

shepherd's  hut.  The  herdsman  himself  was 
out  in  the  forest  with  his  flocks ;  there  was  nobody 
at  home  but  a  lame  dog  which  barked  at  them. 

In  the  evening  they  met  a  mounted  country- 
man carrying  maize  to  be  ground  at  the  mill,  him 
they  took  along  with  them  as  guide. 

After  that  they  travelled  all  night  long,  passing 
through  Skeritora  and  Nyigsa,  till  they  came  to 
the  cataract  of  Vidra,  which  they  reached  at  dawn 
of  day. 

The  houses  of  these  Alpine  villages  are  so  far 
apart  that  next  neighbours  cannot  even  see  each 
other's  dwellings,  as  there  is  at  least  half  a  league 
between  them.  This  circumstance  and  the  night- 
season  favoured  Szilard's  plans.  They  could  sur- 
round each  house,  one  by  one,  without  the  inhab- 
itants of  the  other  houses  being  aware  of  what  had 
happened  in  the  first  ones. — A  fruitless  labour  for 
they  found  nothing  of  a  suspicious  nature. 

Tired  out,  the  band,  early  in  the  morning, 
reached  the  house  beneath  the  waterfall ;  here  they 
felt  the  need  of  halting.  Szilárd  put  some  ques- 
tions to  the  guide  and  then  dismissed  him,  com- 
manding him  to  return  to  Skeritora. 

When  the  guide  had  mounted,  the  pandúr  ser- 
geant observed  to  Szilárd :  'T  fancy,  your  honour, 
that  that  rascal  does  not  mean  to  return  to  Sker- 
itora, but  as  soon  as  he  is  out  of  sight  will  turn 
back  and  give  the  alarm  beforehand  in  all  the  dis- 
tricts on  our  line  of  march." 

'T  fancy  so  too." 


THE  HUNTED  BEAST  379 

"But  then  every  suspected  person  will  get  wind 
of  the  whole  affair  and  have  time  to  bolt." 

"That  is  just  what  I  want.  The  trouble  is  at 
present  that  they  lie  so  still." 

And  with  that  he  ordered  half  of  his  pandurs 
to  lie  down  and  sleep  and  the  other  half  to  remain 
awake  and  so  relieve  each  other  every  three  hours. 
So  the  pandurs  rested  till  midday  and  then  the 
sergeant  began  to  urge  Szilárd  to  set  off  again  or 
else  they  would  arrive  too  late. 

'Tt  is  too  early  yet,"  replied  Szilárd,  and  he 
spent  a  good  half  of  the  afternoon  there  doing 
nothing.  Only  then  did  he  take  horse  again,  com- 
plaining to  everyone  how  much  yesterday's  ride 
had  taken  it  out  of  him,  and  asking  everybody  he 
met  on  the  road,  coming  or  going,  where  the  next 
village  lay? — how  to  get  to  it? — and  in  what 
direction  the  highroad  lay? 

The  old  pandurs  naturally  began  murnmring 
among  themselves.  "Oh !"  said  they,  "if  he  keeps 
on  blurting  out  his  whole  line  of  route  like  this, 
we  shall  only  have  the  empty  nests  of  the  robbers 
to  thresh  out  for  our  trouble." 

"And  this  chap  thinks,  forsooth,  that  he  will 
capture  Fatia  Negra!"  growled  the  veteran  ser- 
geant. 

But  no  sooner  did  they  get  beyond  the  fenced 
fields  than  Szilárd  suddenly  turned  his  horse's 
head  and  leading  the  way  to  the  other  side  of  the 
mountain-stream,  cut  his  way  through  the  forest, 
ordering  his  comrades  to  hurry  after  him  as  speed- 


38o  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

ily  as  possible.  What  he  was  aiming  at,  nobody 
had  the  least  idea.  If  he  meant  to  lose  his  way  in 
the  forest  he  was  setting  about  the  best  way  to  do 
it. 

Suddenly  he  ordered  his  followers  to  dismount 
and  lead  their  horses  by  their  bridles  up  to  the  top 
of  the  mountain.  The  old  sergeant  now  guessed 
what  he  was  after,  but  did  not  approve  of  it. 

"There  is  no  path  for  a  horse  up  this  moun- 
tain," said  he. 

"Silence,  sir!  I  know  what  I  am  about.  Fol- 
low me!" 

And  so,  for  a  good  half  hour,  cursing  their 
leader  bitterly  beneath  their  breaths,  they  painfully 
struggled  after  him  up  the  dangerous  path  and 
then,  suddenly,  a  marvellous  sight  met  their  gaze. 
An  immense  cavern  gaped  open  before  them 
through  which,  as  through  a  tunnel,  they  could 
reach  the  valley  on  the  other  side.  This  was  the 
so-called  "Roman  Gate."  Many  believe  that  the 
Romans  dug  this  passage  through  the  mountain, 
but  this  marvellous  piece  of  workmanship  has  been 
carried  out  on  too  vast  a  scale  for  anybody  else  but 
Nature  to  be  its  architect ;  it  is  possible,  however, 
that  the  Romans  may  have  used  this  passage  for 
their  campaigns. 

And  now  the  pandurs  understood  the  plan  of 
their  young  leader  and  were  ready  to  follow  him 
blindly  through  fire  and  water. 

In  another  half  hour  they  had  passed  through 
the  "Roman  Gate"  and  reached  the  valley  beyond, 


THE  HUNTED  BEAST  381 

and  by  next  morning  Vamhidy  had  lit  down  like 
a  thunderbolt  from  the  sky  where  nobody  expected 
him. 

By  the  evening  he  had  run  down  eight  persons 
who  were  under  very  strong  suspicion.  After 
dusk  the  same  day  he  sent  the  following  letter  to 
Gerzson  by  one  of  his  men  :  "I  feel  certain  I  hold 
the  thread  of  the  whole  conspiracy  in  my  hands. 
We  are  on  their  track." 

At  nightfall  he  encamped  in  a  lonely  mill,  which 
he  chose  because,  in  case  of  necessity,  it  could 
easily  be  defended.  He  had  reasons  for  thinking 
that  he  might  be  attacked  in  the  night. 

The  mill  was  built  over  a  rusliing  mountain- 
stream  so  that  the  stream  shot  through  and  under 
the  building,  over  the  wheels.  Irj  front,  three 
sluices  confined  within  the  basin  the  collected  flood 
of  water  which  was  here  very  deep.  A  broad, 
thick  board,  laid  across  three  stout  piles,  formed 
the  bridge  which  connected  the  foot-path  sloping 
down  from  the  forest,  with  the  foot-path  on  the 
opposite  side. 

Towards  evening  his  pickets  came  and  told 
Vamhidy  that  a  blind  beggar  wanted  to  speak  to 
him  and  in  secret,  so  that  nobody  could  hear. 

Szilárd  ordered  the  blind  man  to  be  led  in.  He 
seemed  to  be  a  muscular,  athletic  fellow  with 
broad  shoulders  and  a  huge  body — what  a  pity  he 
was  blind. 

"Domnule,  are  we  quite  alone?"  inquired  the 
bhnd  man  when  he  stood  before  \''amhidy. 


382  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

"We  are  quite  by  ourselves;  what  is  it  you 
want,  my  good  fellow?" 

"Thank  you,  sir,  for  calling  me  a  good  fellow, 
for  I  was  good  for  something  once  upon  a  time, 
and  will  be  so  again.  I  am  the  famous  Juon  Tare 
whose  eyes  were  burnt  out  in  the  Lucsia  Cavern 
when  they  wanted  to  catch  Fatia  Negra,  and  the 
monster  set  the  whole  cavern  on  fire.  I  want  the 
head  of  Fatia  Negra.  I  am  after  that  head  now 
and  when  I  get  it  all  my  woe  will  cease.  Do  you 
want  that  head  Domnule? — I  can  tell  you  where 
it  is." 

"Well?" 

"Have  you  pluck  enough  not  to  be  afraid  of 
him,  Domnule?" 

"I  am  afraid  of  nothing." 

"And  yet  many  brave  men  fall  back  at  the  sight 
of  that  black  face,  which  never  changes,  which  is 
just  like  steel  and  which  they  fancy  neither  sword 
nor  bullet  can  hurt;  but  my  nails  have  torn  his 
body  and  I  have  seen  his  blood  flow." 

"Say  where  he  is !" 

"Close  at  hand." 

"In  which  direction  ?" 

"Ah !  Domnule !"  sighed  Juon  Tare,  "how  can  I 
answer  that,  I  who  can  see  neither  heaven  nor 
earth?" 

"Then  how  do  you  know  that  he  is  hard  by?" 

"Ah,  Domnule,  I  can  recognize  him  by  his 
voice,  and  if  I  do  not  hear  him  speak,  I  can  recog- 
nize the  sound  of  his  footsteps  when  I  hear  him 


THE  HUNTED  BEAST  3S3 

draw  nigh.  Nobody  else  has  his  trick  of  walk- 
ing. Sometimes  he  goes  as  softly  as  a  spectre  so 
that  only  the  ears  of  a  blind  man  can  detect  his 
footfall  and  at  other  times  he  tramps  as  if  the 
whole  earth  beneath  him  were  hollow  and  it  re- 
sounds at  every  step.  Oh,  I  have  often  heard  him 
approaching  when  he  was  still  far,  far  away." 

"But  do  you  know  anything  certain  about 
him?" 

"I  will  tell  you  everything,  Domnule,  beginning 
at  the  beginning.  You  see  that  I  am  blind,  a 
blind  beggar,  for  begging  is  my  trade.  So  long 
as  my  wife  was  alive,  I  had  no  need  to  turn  beg- 
gar, for  she  worked  for  me  and  kept  me.  But  she 
died=  After  that  I  would  gladly  have  died  of 
hunger,  but  she  left  me  a  little  son,  a  child  but  two 
years  old  and  I  go  a  begging  for  him.  Above  the 
brook  here  on  the  King's  highway  is  a  stone 
bridge  built  by  the  county.  Early  in  the  morning 
my  little  son  is  wont  to  lead  me  hither  and  then  re- 
turns to  the  village,  little  mite  as  he  is  the  wife  of 
the  scrivener  looks  after  him,  and  in  the  evening 
he  comes  and  fetches  me  home  again.  Whatever 
is  given  me  by  charitable  wayfarers  I  share  with 
my  poor  hostess,  who  is  poorer  than  any  beggar. 
Yesterday  something  happened.  It  was  this.  I 
was  sitting  outside  there  at  the  end  of  the  bridge 
and  as  I  had  not  heard  a  human  voice  about  me 
for  a  long  time  and  it  was  extremely  hot,  slumber 
weighed  heavily  upon  me.  I  struggled  hard 
against  it  but  it  was  too  much  for  me.      I  was 


384  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

afraid  that  if  I  fell  across  the  road  a  cart  might 
go  over  me.  So  I  laid  myself  down  under  the 
arch  of  the  bridge.  I  knew  the  place  well  for  I 
had  often  sheltered  there  from  the  storm.  Sud- 
denly I  was  awakened  by  those  familiar  footsteps. 
They  passed  across  the  bridge  over  my  head,  i 
will  take  my  oath  that  it  was  he.  He  stood  still 
in  the  middle  of  the  bridge.  Shortly  afterwards 
I  heard  the  sound  of  many  more  footsteps  coming, 
some  from  the  left  and  some  from  the  right.  Men 
were  coming  in  all  directions  towards  the  bridge 
and  there  in  the  middle  of  it  they  stood ;  I  counted 
them — there  were  four  and  twenty  of  them." 

Szilárd  now  began  to  listen  attentively. 

"Then  he  spoke.  Oh,  even  if  I  had  had  the 
light  of  both  my  eyes,  I  could  not  have  seen  him 
so  plainly  before  me  as  I  saw  him  in  my  blindness 
when  I  heard  him  speak.  It  was  indeed  he,  at  the 
very  first  word  I  recognized  him ;  but  when  I  tell 
you  what  he  said,  then  you  also  will  recognize  him 
Domnule.  Those  four  and  twenty  men  are  a  sworn 
confederacy.  It  was  a  secret  plot  they  were  hatch- 
ing at  that  place,  where  nobody  could  surprise 
them,  as  it  is  girt  about  with  woods  on  every  side. 
He  called  his  companions  here  to  tell  them  of  the 
measures  that  were  being  taken  against  them.  He 
told  them  they  had  no  need  to  fear  all  that  the 
six  counties  were  doing  but  that  the  little  band 
which  was  zig-zagging  through  the  whole  district 
was  greatly  to  be  feared.  It  was  the  cause  of  all 
the  mischief  and  must  be  put  out  of  the  way.   But 


THE  HUNTED  BEAST  385 

his  comrades  made  no  reply.  They  grumbled  and 
muttered  among  themselves  and  at  last  they  said 
that  this  would  be  a  difficult  thing  to  do.  They 
all  said  they  would  not  tackle  the  pandurs  because 
they  were  better  shots  than  any  robber  and  were 
used  to  hunting  and  all  its  wiles.  In  vain  were  all 
the  assurances  of  Fatia  Negra;  they  said  they 
meant  to  hide  away  as  best  they  could.  'Then 
hide  and  be  d — d  to  you,'  said  their  leader, 
T  will  tackle  them  single-handed.  I'll  seek  them 
out  and  show  you  that  they  too  are  but  mortal 
men.'  Those  were  his  last  words  to  them ;  they 
scattered  again,  to  the  right  and  left,  and  I  heard 
their  departing  footsteps  over  my  head.  But  be- 
heve  me,  sir,  Fatia  Negra  will  try  to  do  what  he 
said." 

"What!  come  and  attack  us? — alone,  against 
so  many?" 

"You  do  not  believe  what  I  say,  sir,  but  so  it 
will  be." 

"Nay,  my  good  fellow,  but  are  you  quite  certain 
you  did  not  dream  it  all  ?" 

"Domnule,  in  the  first  moment  of  my  amaze- 
ment that  is  what  I  fancied  myself.  How  can  a 
blind  man  know  whether  he  is  awake  or  dream- 
ing. .  I  therefore  drew  forth  my  pocket-knife  and 
with  the  point  of  it  I  cut  a  cross  in  my  left  arm. 
Look,  sir,  there  it  is !" 

Juon  tucked  up  the  wide  shirt  sleeve  from  his 
herculean  arm  and  Szilárd  was  astonished  to  see 


386  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

the  half  healed  and  cross-like  scar — it  had  been  a 
deep  gash. 

"So  now,  sir,"  pursued  Juon,  "you  can  see  that 
I  am  not  dreaming.  Watch  well,  for  Fatia  Negra 
will  come.  Not  to-night  for  he  awaits  you  on  the 
road  by  which  you  came.  But  to-morrow  he  will 
know  that  you  have  dodged  him  by  going  through 
the  'Roman  Gate'  and  to-morrow  night  you  can 
safely  reckon  upon  him." 

Szilárd  charged  Juon  not  to  say  a  word  to  any- 
body about  what  he  had  told  him  and  promised 
him  a  reward  if  what  he  had  said  really  came  to 
pass. 

That  night  nothing  happened,  and  till  the  after- 
noon of  the  next  day  he  lingered  idly  at  the  mill. 
Towards  midday  they  heard  in  the  forest  a  loud 
barking  of  dogs;  the  miller  said  it  was  no  doubt 
the  lord  of  the  manor  hunting  bears. 

"He  chooses  a  very  inopportune  time,"  growled 
Vamhidy,  "he  will  scare  my  game  away." 

The  hunters  were  not  long  in  issuing  from  the 
forest,  they  seemed  to  have  lost  the  track  of  the 
bear. 

Vamhidy  sent  word  to  the  gentlemen  that  he 
would  be  much  obliged  to  them  if  they  would  post- 
pone their  amusement  to  some  more  convenient 
season  as  business  of  a  graver  sort  was  going  on 
here.  Word  was  at  once  brought  back  that  the 
company  was  quite  ready  to  do  as  he  said.  The 
dogs  were  quickly  leashed  again,  the  beaters  re- 
called by  signals  and  the  whole  hunt  came  straight 


THE  HUNTED  BEAST  387 

towards  the  mill.  A  few  moments  later  Vamhidy 
recognized  in  the  leader  of  the  hunt — Leonard 
Hátszegi. 

It  was  an  unwelcome  surprise  on  both  sides,  but 
Hátszegi  was  the  first  to  recover  himself,  and  he 
greeted  him  with  as  radiant  a  countenance  as  if  he 
had  never  had  any  cause  of  quarrel  with  him. 

"We  both  of  us  seem  to  be  on  a  hunting  expe- 
dition your  honour!"  said  he. 

"Mine  is  an  official  pursuit." 

"And  mine  pure  pastime.  Had  I  known  you 
would  have  taken  this  road,  I  should  certainly  not 
have  engaged  in  such  a  mal-apropos  diversion. 
But  it  is  over  now,  we  are  all  going  back.  My 
bear  may  run — how  about  yours?" 

"No  sign  of  him  yet." 

"Well,  I  could  regale  you  with  no  end  of  inter- 
esting anecdotes  concerning  the  hunted  adven- 
turer, for  I  have  had  more  than  one  famous  ren- 
contre with  him  myself.  If  it  were  only  worth 
your  while  to  pay  us  a  visit  at  Hidvár  I  could 
promise  you  the  heartiest  reception — not  only  on 
my  own  part  but  also  on  the  part  of  my  wife." 

"I  am.  much  obliged  to  your  lordship,"  replied 
Vamhidy  coolly,  "but  I  am  bound  by  instructions 
from  which  I  cannot  depart.  It  is  not  pleasure 
that  brings  me  hither.  Besides  I  have  got  a  sure 
clue  at  last  which  I  must  follow  up  and  I  know 
not  whither  it  may  lead  me." 

"Bravo!     So  you  are  on  his  track  at  last,  eh  I 


388  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

Take  care  my  friend  it  is  not  a  false  clue.  These 
rascals  are  very  crafty." 

"It  is  a  real  clue  that  I  have  discovered.  You 
must  know  that  before  the  confiscated  gold  cap- 
tured in  the  Lucsia  Cavern  was  sent  to  Vienna, 
every  coin  of  it  was  marked  with  a  little  cross,  a 
very  simple  official  precaution,  but  it  has  proved 
very  useful  to  us.  Now  I  have  corne  upon  these 
marked  ducats  among  the  people  here.  They 
themselves,  I  believe,  are  innocent  and  can  give 
the  name  of  the  persons  from  whom  they  received 
them;  and  so,  by  tracing  the  various  intermedia- 
ries, we  shall  come  at  last,  upon  the  original  dis- 
pensers of  these  ducats.  I  can  imagine  how  Fatia 
Negra  will  laugh  when  he  hears  that  the  soldiers 
of  six  counties  are  hunting  for  him  in  the  depths 
of  the  forests  and  tapping  every  rotten  tree-stump 
in  search  of  him  while  he  is  sitting  comfortably  in 
some  large  theatre  and  eyeing  the  ballet-dancers 
through  his  opera  glass ;  but  he  will  be  very  much 
surprised  when,  one  fine  day,  without  any  prelimi- 
nary siege-operations  we  shall  tap  at  his  own  door 
and  enquire:   Ts  Fatia  Negra  at  home?'  " 

Hátszegi  laughed  heartily. 

"Not  a  bad  idea,  upon  my  honour !  I  myself  am 
inclined  to  think  that  the  worthy  highwayman  will 
be  sooner  found  in  a  coffee  house  than  in  a  forest. 
I  only  regret  that  I  did  not  mark  my  own  coins 
so  that  I  might  recognize  them  again." 

And  so  laughing  and  whistling,  he  returned  to 


THE  HUNTED  BEAST  389 

his  party  which  appeared  to  consist  of  mere  de- 
pendents and  gave  them  his  orders. 

"Unpack  the  horses  and  get  lunch  ready,"  said 
he,  "we  will  not  go  any  further." 

Then  he  turned  again  to  Vamhidy. 

"Since  we  are  obliged  to  capitulate  to  superior 
force,  w^ould  you  be  so  good  as  to  pick  out  with  me 
a  nice,  round,  shadowy  spot  in  the  forest  where 
we  may  encamp  and  share  wáth  each  other  our 
provisions  vvhich  have  thus  become  the  spoils  of 
war?" 

"Thank  you,  my  lord,"  replied  Vamhidy  coldly, 
"but  I  have  already  had  my  lunch." 

His  lunch,  by  the  way,  had  consisted  of  a 
maize  cake  baked  in  the  ashes. 

"Then  w'on't  you  allow  your  men  to  drink  my 
health  in  a  glass  of  wine,  since  they  are  actually 
on  my  domains  ?" 

"My  pandurs  are  not  allowed  to  drink;  they 
have  to  remain  sober.  They  must  not  leave  the 
mill  without  my  leave  and  your  lordship  must  not 
camp  out  here  although  the  mill  is  your  property. 
For  just  now  I  am  'verbiro,'*  here  with  the  right 
to  open  and  close  every  door  as  I  ma}-  think  fit." 

"Then  I  shall  know  how  to  respect  your  au- 
thority. All  the  same,  I  do  not  withdraw  my  of- 
fer. My  castle  and  every  house  and  shanty  on  my 
estate  is  at  your  disposal  and  if  you  should  not  find 
me  at  home  at  Hidvár,  as  I  have  to  be  off  early  to- 

*  A  magistrate  with  the  power  of  life  and  death  in  his  hands. 


390  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

morrow  morning  to  Szeb,  my  wife  will  be  de- 
lighted to  see  you." 

And  with  that  he  threw  his  gun  across  his 
shoulder  and  tripped  away  with  well  bred  non- 
chalance across  the  field,  and,  calling  to  his  party 
to  follow  him,  disappeared  in  the  depths  of  the 
forest  from  which  he  had  just  emerged. 

jH  *****  * 

And  now  it  was  evening  and  the  heavens  were 
full  of  stars  and  Szilárd  began  to  gaze  at  the  stars 
and  as  he  did  so  he  forgot  all  about  :hc  official 
burdens  that  weighed  so  heavily  upon  his  shoul- 
ders, all  about  Fatia  Negra  and  the  robbers.  He 
fancied  that  his  eyes  encountered  among  the  stars 
the  eyes  of  "another"  whom  slumber  and  happi- 
ness had  deserted  just  as  they  had  deserted  him. 

How  close  to  each  other  chance  had  brought 
them  once  more !  He  had  only  to  accept  her  hus- 
band's invitation  in  order  to  meet  her  face  to  face. 
What  would  they  not  have  to  say  to  one  another  ? 

The  night  was  quite  still,  the  whole  region  was 
dumb  save  for  the  gurgling  of  the  water  rushing 
through  the  sluices.  The  pandurs  were  snoring 
in  the  living  room,  for  they  were  allowed  to  sleep 
till  two  o'clock.  Only  Vamhidy  kept  watch  with 
a  single  pandúr  who  was  guarding  the  prisoners 
in  the  cellar. 

"The  Lord  God  bless  thee !"  a  hushed  voice  sud- 
denly resounded  from  among  the  brown  bushes 
and  Szilárd  distinguished  by  the  light  of  the  rising 


THE  HUNTED  BEAST  391 

moon  a  tall  dark  shape  approaching  the  mill  path. 
It  was  blind  Juon. 

"How  did  you  know  anyone  was  here?"  en- 
quired Szilárd  suspiciously. 

"I  heard  you  sigh,  sir,  once  or  twice  and  I  knew 
you  were  awake  for  I  warned  you  beforehand  to 
watch — to-night  he  will  be  upon  you." 

"Who?" 

"Who  ?     Why  Fatia  Negra." 

"So  you  think  he  will  be  bold  enough  ?" 

"I  know  that  he  is  already  on  the  way." 

"And  where  were  you  just  now  ?" 

"I  was  working  in  the  mill-ditch." 

"At  night !    What  were  you  doing  there  ?" 

"I  have  removed  the  supporting  beam  under- 
neath the  bridge  leading  across  the  reservoir !  It 
was  a  hard  bit  of  work  but  I  had  the  strength  to 
do  it." 

"Why  did  you  do  that?" 

"Because  he  will  come  from  the  opposite  side 
and  immediately  he  steps  on  the  middle  of  the 
bridge  the  plank  will  give  way  beneath  him  and 
he  will  fall  into  the  water  like  a  mouse  in  a  trap." 

"What  is  the  good  of  that,  he  will  only  swim 
out  again." 

"Yes,  but  his  pistols  will  then  be  full  of  water 
and  he  will  be  unable  to  use  them  against  you." 

Szilárd  began  to  perceive  that  he  had  a  most  de- 
termined ally  with  all  sorts  of  ideas  in  his  head 
that  had  never  occurred  to  himself. 

"But  surely,  my  poor,  fellow,  you  do  not  imag- 


392  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

ine  that  anybody  will  be  mad  enough  to  face  so 
many  armed  men  alone." 

"I  don't  know,  sir,  but  I  also  do  not  know 
whether  you  yourself  may  not  be  alone  among  so 
many  armed  men,  for  I  hear  snoring  among  the 
very  guard  you  told  off  to  watch  the  cellar." 

Szilárd  was  startled.  He  immediately  hastened 
to  the  place  indicated  and  there,  sure  enough,  he 
saw  the  sentry  stretched  at  full  length  across  the 
cellar  door.  He  angrily  hastened  to  arouse  him 
and  seized  the  sleeper  by  the  arm ;  but  all  his  ef- 
forts were  powerless  to  awake  the  fellow, — he 
might  just  as  well  have  been  dead. 

"Try  to  wake  the  others,  sir,"  said  Juon. 

The  pandurs  lay  in  long  rows  stretched  out 
upon  the  straw  in  the  meal  magazine. 

Szilárd  spoke  to  them,  first  gently,  then  loudly, 
and  at  last  angrily,  calling  them  by  name,  one 
after  the  other ;  but  not  one  of  them  awoke.  He 
tore  the  sleepers  away  from  their  places,  but  they 
were  not  aware  of  it;  as  soon  as  he  let  them  go 
they  rolled  back  again  into  their  former  positions. 

"What  has  happened?"  cried  the  confounded 
Szilárd. 

"There  must  be  a  traitor  among  them,  sir,  a 
hireling  of  Fatia  Negra;  he  has  his  hirelings 
everywhere,  in  forests,  in  palaces,  in  dungeons,  in 
barracks,  everywhere.  And  this  traitor  has  min- 
gled thorn-apple  juice  in  the  drink  of  his  com- 
rades and  they  will  now  sleep  on  for  a  night  and 
a  day.    The  traitor  himself  is  pretending  to  sleep 


THE  HUNTED  BEAST  393 

along  with  his  fellows  but  he  is  only  awaiting  the 
arrival  of  Fatia  Negra  and  then  up  he  will  get  and 
release  the  captives.  It  was  an  artful  dodge,  your 
honour !" 

Szilárd  felt  a  tremor  running  through  all  his 
limbs. 

"You  see,  sir,  you  are  here  alone,  but  Fatia  Ne- 
gra is  never  alone.  But  so  far  no  great  harm  has 
been  done.  We  will  make  him  to  be  alone  also. 
We  cannot  find  out  just  now  which  of  the  four 
and  twenty  is  a  traitor.  But  we  will  bind  the 
whole  four  and  twenty  hand  and  foot,  and  then  the 
traitor  also  will  be  helpless." 

Szilárd  began  to  perceive  that  this  blind  man  was 
right  in  everything.  His  words  must  be  listened 
to,  for  the  danger  was  close  at  hand,  there  was  no 
time  for  hesitation.  So  he  quickly  routed  up  all 
the  halters  in  the  mill  and  they  set  to  work. 

The  blind  giant  laid  the  pandurs  one  by  one 
across  his  knee  and  placing  their  hands  behind 
their  backs  crosswise  held  them  towards  Szilárd, 
who  bound  them  fast.  Three  and  twenty  of  them 
felt  nothing  of  all  this  and  the  four  and  twentieth 
who  did  feel  it  thought  it  just  as  well  to  go  on 
feigning  slumber,  for  had  it  been  discov^ered  that 
he  was  awake  one  grip  of  those  enormous  fists 
M^ould  have  made  of  him  a  sleeper  indeed — for 
ever  more. 

"Is  your  sword  sharp,  sir?"  enquired  the  blind 
man  when  this  piece  of  work  was  done. 

"Yes,  and  I  have  pistols  likewise." 


394  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

"Test  them,  sir,  for  I  suspect  they  have  been 
tampered  with." 

"What?" 

"If  ever,  sir,  you  have  pursued  some  wild  beast, 
a  bear  or  a  buffalo,  for  instance,  you  know  the  rule 
surely :  never  rely  upon  any  weapon  which  has 
not  been  freshly  loaded  by  your  own  hand.  Let 
us  take  the  loading  out  of  your  pistols.  It  won't 
do  to  fire  them  off  for  we  are  lying  in  wait  for  big 
game  and  at  such  times  one  must  keep  very  quiet." 

Szilárd  hearkened  to  the  warning  and  drew  the 
loading  out  of  both  his  well  charged  pistols.  It  is 
usual  when  the  powder  is  taken  out  to  blow  down 
the  barrel  and  as  he  did  so  now  he  remarked  that 
something  was  wrong.  The  ramrod  encountered 
some  soft  substance  which  he  drew  forth.  Juon 
smelt  it  and  pronounced  it  to  be  the  wax  of  wild 
bees. 

"You  see,  sir,  you  will  not  be  able  to  dis- 
charge this  pistol,  for  the  touch  holes  are  so 
plugged  up  that  it  will  take  you  some  hours  to 
thoroughly  clean  them." 

"At  any  rate  I  have  still  the  firearms  of  my 
pandurs." 

"Let  us  examine  them  also,  sir!" 

They  did  so  forthwith  and  found  that  they  too 
had  been  utterly  ruined.  And  all  this  must  have 
been  done  while  Szilárd  had  been  sitting  outside 
and  his  men  had  been  sleeping ! 

"Then  your  sword  is  sharp,  sir,  eh?"  enquired 


THE  HUNTED  BEAST  395 

the  blind  man,  "for  I  hear  the  footsteps  of  Fatia 
Negra." 

The  sensitive  ears  of  the  bhnd  man  "scented" 
so  to  speak  the  well  known  footfalls  while  they 
were  still  approaching  on  the  distant  forest  paths. 

The  young  man  felt  an  involuntary  shudder  run 
through  his  body  as  the  moment  drew  near  when 
he  would  have  to  face  the  hunted  foe.  The  mag- 
ical mysteriousness  which  enveloped  his  pursuer; 
the  marvellous  audacity  which  ensured  the  success 
of  all  his  projects ;  his  gigantic  bodily  strength — 
all  these  things  were  sufficient  to  make  any  man's 
heart  beat  more  quickly  at  the  prospect  of  encoun- 
tering Black-Mask  in  a  life  and  death  struggle  at 
a  lonely  place. 

But  Szilárd  was  resolved  to  see  the  business 
through.  The  strong  will  peculiar  to  men  of  his 
nature  broke  down  his  fear.  He  had  no  business 
»  to  tremble,  it  was  not  permitted  to  him  to  fear. 
He  who  has  a  sword  in  his  hand  is  never  alone — a 
sword  is  also  a  man. 

The  blind  man  trembled  in  his  stead.  He  feared 
for  him.  When  Szilárd  returned  with  his  naked 
sword,  the  blind  man  passed  his  finger  along  its 
edge  from  end  to  end  to  test  its  sharpness. 

"A  good  sword,  a  very  good  sword,  Domnule. 
Fear  him  not,  but  when  he  scrambles  out  of  the 
water,  rush  upon  him  and  strike  at  his  neck. 
Do  not  aim  at  his  body  for  this  accursed  one  wears 
a  coat  of  mail  so  that  no  weapon  can  pierce  him. 
If  he  comes  to  close  quarters,  do  not  defend  your- 


396  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

self  but  slash  away  at  him,  you  may  perhaps  be 
wounded,  but  if  you  stand  on  the  defensive,  he 
will  kill  you.  If  he  gets  too  much  for  you,  call  out 
and  I  will  rush  in  and  strangle  him  with  my  naked 
hands.  Oh,  what  would  I  not  give  now  for  the 
sight  of  my  two  eyes." 

And  the  blind  man  began  to  weep  bitterly. 

"That  man  killed  my  wife  and  blinded  me  and 
now  when  I  hear  him  approach,  when  I  hear  him 
coming  towards  me  all  alone  I  cannot  see  him.  I 
cannot  rush  in  and  close  with  him.  Be  valiant, 
Domnule,  and  God  be  with  you.  May  the  soul  of 
my  Mariora  direct  the  edge  of  your  sword  and 
darken  his  eyes.  Hearken ! — is  not  that  he  ap- 
proaching!" 

And  it  was  actually  he.  The  tall  elegant  figure 
was  descending  the  moonlight  rocks  with  a  light, 
elastic  tread,  dressed  from  head  to  foot  in  a  black 
atlas  mantle.  Szilárd  saw  him  drawing  nearer 
and  nearer,  step  by  step,  to  the  mill  behind  a  pil- 
lar of  whose  verandah  he  himself  was  concealed 
expectant. 

At  the  very  moment  when  he  perceived  this  fig- 
ure, his  former  terror  gave  way  before  a  strange, 
resolute  fury  which  now  filled  his  heart,  a  feeling 
familiar  only  to  those  whose  blood  is  set  boiling 
whenever  they  are  suddenly  confronted  by  a  press- 
ing danger.  He  feared  the  man  no  longer,  he 
burned  to  encounter  him. 

Blind  Juon  stood  beside  him  and  pressed  his 
hand.    They  both  of  them  began  to  listen  intently. 


THE  HUNTED  BEAST  397 

nature  itself  was  as  still  as  if  the  wind  also  would 
listen.  Nothing  was  audible  but  the  dull  meas- 
ured tramp  of  the  approaching  footsteps. 

The  black  shape  now  footed  the  bridge ;  with  a 
confident  gait  he  approached  the  middle  of  it,  an- 
other step  and  the  bridge  gave  way  beneath  him 
and  with  an  involuntary  cry  the  man  in  black 
plunged  into  the  water. 

"Now,  sir,  rush  in !"  whispered  Juon  to  Szilárd, 
But  the  latter  could  not  help  thinking  at  that  mo- 
ment that  it  was  an  act  of  cowardice  to  attack  a 
man  when  he  could  not  defend  himself,  even 
though  that  man  was  a  robber,  so  he  allowed  him 
to  scramble  out  onto  the  other  side. 

The  black  mantle  had  fallen  from  the  shoulders 
of  Fatia  Negra  into  the  water  and  there  he  now 
stood  before  Szilárd  with  his  wet  clothes  clinging 
closely  to  his  body  like  a  statue  of  Antinous,  a 
shape  of  athletic  beauty. 

In  his  girdle  were  a  couple  of  pistols,  in  all 
probability  rendered  useless  by  the  water  and  a 
long  Arab  yataghan  almost  as  long  as  an  ordinary 
sword  but  without  the  usual  cruciform  hilt. 

Szilárd  barred  the  way. 

For  an  instant  Fatia  Negra  was  taken  aback  by 
his  antagonist's  unexpected  wariness  and  courage, 
but  the  next  moment  his  drawn  yataghan  flashed 
in  his  hand  and  the  second  flash  was  the  clash  of 
the  contending  weapons. 

And  now  happened  what  happens  hundreds  and 
thousands  of  times  in  actual  life.     At  the  very 


398  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

first  onset  Fatia  Negra,  the  notorious,  the  prac- 
tised, the  invincible  swordsman  was  disarmed  by 
a  young  civiUan  who  had  never,  perhaps,  held  a 
naked  sword  in  his  hand  before  and  possessed  no 
advantage  over  his  opponent  save  the  courage  of 
an  honest  man  as  opposed  to  the  efirontery  of  a 
malefactor — a  marvel  indeed ! 

Both  of  them  had  lunged  at  the  same  time, 
neither  of  them  had  parried,  Szilard's  sword  cut 
through  his  adversary's  wrist  and  at  the  same  in- 
stant Fatia  Negra's  yataghan  fell  from  his  hand. 

The  wounded  robber  set  up  a  howl  like  a  wild 
beast  and  Juon,  lurking  beneath  the  verandah  of 
the  mill  responded  with  another  howl  of  joy  that 
sounded  like  an  echo.  The  blind  man  had  recog- 
nised that  Fatia  Negra  was  in  danger  and  at  once 
rushed  out  upon  him. 

The  disarmed  adventurer  lost  his  presence  of 
mind  along  with  his  sword.  His  right  hand  sud- 
denly sank  helpless  to  his  side  and  his  stout  heart 
was  seized  with  a  sort  of  paralysis.  He  perceived 
that  this  was  the  man  sent  by  fate  to  announce  to 
him  that  his  last  hour  was  at  hand.  He  turned 
and  fled  toward  the  forest. 

Szilárd  rushed  after  him. 

Take  care,"  screamed  blind  Juon.  But  none 
heeded  him.  Fatia  Negra  flew  away  before  his 
enemy.  At  first  he  left  him  far  behind,  but  grad- 
ually the  continuous  loss  of  blood  began  to  weaken 
him  and  it  also  occurred  to  him  that  even  if  he 
succeeded  in  distancing  his  adversary,  he  would 


THE  HUNTED  BEAST  399 

still  leave  a  trail  of  blood  behind  him.  To  com- 
plete his  confusion  the  moon  made  the  whole  re- 
gion as  light  as  day.  He  was  forced  to  sit  down 
on  a  tree  stump  to  tie  up  his  wounded  hand;  at 
least  he  would  stop  the  flow  of  blood  and  make  the 
trail  more  difficult  to  follow. 

While  with  the  help  of  his  left  hand  and  his 
teeth  he  was  binding  up  his  useless  right  hand, 
his  pursuer  overtook  him. 

"Fatia  Negra — surrender!" 

The  only  reply  the  adventurer  gave  was  to  try 
to  fire  his  pistols  and  finding  them  only  flash  in 
the  pan  he  hurled  then  one  after  the  other  at  his 
enemy's  head.  Szilárd  then  had  practical  experi- 
ence of  the  rumor  that  Fatia  Negra  could  throw 
very  well  even  with  his  left  hand, — had  he  not 
leaped  aside  at  the  nick  of  time  the  pistols  would 
have  dashed  his  brains  out. 

Then  up  Fatia  Negra  started  to  his  feet  again 
and  fled  away  still  further.  The  pursuer  and 
the  pursued  now  sped  along  with  pretty  equal  en- 
ergy, though  the  loss  of  blood  continued  to  weaken 
the  robber.  Yet  he  made  one  desperate  effort  to 
scale  the  steep  side  of  the  mountain.  An  ordinary 
man  could  rarely  breast  such  an  ascent,  yet  he 
tried  it.  But  he  soon  found  that  even  thus  he 
could  not  shake  off  his  enemy.  He  remained  in- 
deed some  hundreds  of  paces  behind  but  he  could 
not  dodge  out  of  his  sight  in  the  now  open  glade. 

On  the  brow  of  the  hill  the  adventurer  stopped 
to    pant    and    surveyed    the    undulating    thickly 


400  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

wooded  hills  stretching  away  on  every  side  of  him. 
He  drew  a  silver  whistle  from  his  bosom  and  gave 
with  it  three  penetrating  signals  which  re-echoed 
from  among  the  distant  mountains.  But  it  was 
only  an  echo,  only  the  note  of  the  whistle  that  he 
heard,  he  waited  in  vain  for  anything  else.  All 
his  accomplices  had  evidentl}'^  hidden  away. 

And  again  the  pursuer  overtook  him.  He  waited 
till  he  was  only  two  paces  off  and  then  he  seized  a 
stone  weighing  half  a  hundred  weight  and  hurled 
it  at  him — the  tree  trunk  behind  which  Szilárd 
had  taken  refuge  bent  beneath  the  blow.  Then 
Fatia  Negra  fled  down  towards  the  valley. 

It  was  a  desperate  way  for  him  to  take,  for 
down  hill  his  adversary  could  cover  the  ground  as 
quickly  as  he  could ;  the  distance  between  them 
was  never  more  than  ten  paces,  the  wound  the 
robber  had  received  began  to  enervate  his  whole 
body,  and  he  was  not  long  in  finding  out  that  the 
hurling  of  missiles  is  a  very  profitless  mode  of 
warfare  when  you  have  only  one  hand  at  your  dis- 
posal. 

Panting  hard  he  fled  on  further  seeking  refuge. 
And  now  he  took  to  zigzagging  through  the  wood 
in  the  hope  of  dodging  his  pursuer  if  only  for  an 
instant  as  a  flying  fox  is  wont  to  do  when  he  is 
already  nearing  his  hole  whose  entrance  he  does 
not  wish  to  betray  to  his  pursuer. 

A  little  further  on  a  stout  quickset  hedge  barred 
their  way.  Fatia  Negra  burst  through  it  and  Szi- 
lárd followed  in  the  gap  that  he  had  made. 


THE  HUNTED  BEAST  401 

Suddenly  a  hunting  lodge  came  in  view — at 
least  the  antlers  on  the  top  of  the  porch  and  above 
the  windows  suggested  that  that  was  what  it  was 
intended  for. 

One  of  the  windows  looking  out  upon  the  for- 
est stood  open.  Fatia  Negra  suddenly  stopped 
short,  waited  till  his  adversary  was  close  up  to 
him  and  then  shaking  his  fist  at  him  sprang 
through  the  open  window. 

Vamhidy  did  not  hesitate  a  moment  about  fol- 
lowing the  adventurer  into  the  house.  He  forced 
his  way  through  the  window  and  found  himself 
in  a  dark  corridor  at  the  extreme  end  of  which  the 
footsteps  of  the  hunted  adventurer  were  still  re- 
sounding.   And  after  him  he  ran  straightway. 


CHAPTER  XXII 

THE  SIGHT  OF  TERROR 

"My  dear  Henrietta,"  Leonard  had  said  to  his 
wife  the  day  before,  as  he  shook  the  dust  of  the 
chase  oiif  his  clothes,  "very  shortly  some  guests 
will  arrive  at  Hidvár  and  possibly  they  may  be 
numerous.  May  I  ask  you  to  make  ready  for  their 
reception?" 

Henrietta  signified  by  a  motion  of  her  head  that 
she  understood. 

"It  is  possible  you  may  have  to  perform  the  du- 
ties of  hostess  without  my  assistance,  for  I  have 
to  be  off  at  once  to  Szeb  and  don't  expect  to  be 
back  for  a  couple  of  days.  It  is  possible  that  the 
gentlemen  in  question  may  arrive  during  my  ab- 
sence which  I  should  very  much  regret.  Never- 
theless you  may  depend  upon  my  hastening  home 
as  quickly  as  I  can  to  meet  them  here." 

All  this  did  not  seem  to  interest  Henrietta  very 
much.    Leonard  noticed  it. 

"Let  the  gentry,  my  dear,  occupy  the  room 
overlooking  the  park,  the  servants  had  better  have 
the  six  rooms  generally  given  to  hunting  parties 
on  the  ground  floor,  with  the  four  and  twenty 
beds." 

At  these  directions  the  lady  looked  at  her  lord 
with  an  expression  of  surprised  inquiry. 

402 


THE  SIGHT  OF  TERROR  403 

"I  see,"  resumed  her  husband,  "you  are  asking 
yourself  what  sort  of  company  that  can  be  for 
whose  master  one  room  suffices  while  the  servants 
require  six.  I  will  tell  you.  It  is  the  armed  corps 
from  Arad  which  is  charged  with  the  capture  of 
Fatia  Negra  and  his  associates.  As  they  will  pass 
by  this  way  I  don't  see  how  they  can  avoid  calling 
at  Hidvár.  In  fact  I  have  invited  the  magistrate 
who  commands  the  corps  to  make  Hidvár  the  cen- 
tre of  his  operations  and  if  he  is  a  sensible  man  he 
will  accept  my  invitation.  The  name  of  my  guest 
I  have  not  yet  mentioned,"  continued  Leonard 
with  easy  levity,  "it  is  Szilárd  Vamhidy,  a  justice 
of  the  peace  of  the  county  of  Arad — really  a  very 
nice  young  man," 

Henrietta  became  as  white  as  a  statue. 

"You  will  greatly  oblige  me,  my  dear  Henrietta, 
if  you  will  do  your  best  to  make  our  guest  feel 
quite  at  home  in  our  house.  But  you  are  a  sensible 
woman,  so  I  have  no  need  to  press  the  point.  Let 
me  kiss  your  hand — ait  revoir!" 

Henrietta  watched  him  go  out,  watched  him 
get  into  his  carriage  and  bowl  off  and  then  began 
to  weep  and  hide  her  head  among  the  cushions 
that  nobody  might  hear  her. 

They  are  pursuing  Fatia  Negra !  .  .  .  Szi- 
lárd Vamhidy  is  pursuing  Fatia  Negra ! 

He  will  come  hither,  he  will  enter  this  very  cas- 
tle.    Leonard  himself  has  invited  him ! 

He  will  certainly  come  to  see  his  former  love 
once  more.     The  thought  was  terrible! 


404  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

But  it  must  not,  it  should  not  happen. 

Leonard  himself  had  invited  Vamhidy  to  his 
castle.  This  man  relied  too  much  on  the  terror  of 
a  poor  timid  woman,  he  built  too  much  on  that 
nimbus  of  terror  which  made  him  so  horribly  un- 
assailable in  her  eyes.  What!  first  to  invite  the 
former  lover  of  his  wife  to  be  his  guest  and  then 
show  his  indifference  by  choosing  that  very  time 
to  absent  himself  from  the  house  for  some  days ! 

But  on  one  thing  she  was  resolved — Vamhidy 
should  not  find  her  at  Hidvár.  She  would  fly. 
She  would  leave  her  husband's  house.  Where 
should  she  go?  Who  would  receive  her?  What 
would  become  of  her?  She  did  not  know,  she 
gave  the  matter  no  thought,  but  one  thing  was 
certain:  Szilárd  and  she  might  meet  together  in 
the  grave  but  they  should  never  encounter  each 
other  beneath  the  shadow  of  the  halls  of  Hidvár. 

There  was  nobody  she  could  confide  in.  All 
the  servants  were  her  husband's  paid  spies  and 
her  own  jailors.  The  priest  had  disappeared  al- 
together from  Hidvár.  In  her  despair  an  old 
memory  rose  up  before  her.  She  called  to  mind 
that  during  the  earlier  days  of  her  sta)'-  at  Hidvár 
when  she  had  explored  the  whole  region  under 
the  delusion  that  she  could  make  the  wretched 
happy,  she  had  often  passed  a  little  house  which 
had  always  riveted  her  attention.  It  was  a  little 
hunting  hut  in  the  midst  of  the  forest  built  en- 
tirely of  wood  and  planed  smoothly  outside  like  a 
little  polished  cabinet.    In  front  of  it  stood  broad 


THE  SIGHT  OF  TERROR  405 

spreading  fruit  trees,  crowded  with  flowers  in 
spring,  crowded  with  fruit  in  autumn,  wild  vines 
and  moss  grew  all  over  its  roofs. 

In  the  midst  of  the  listening  woods  this  little 
house  had  such  an  inviting  exterior  that  the  very 
first  time  she  saw  it,  Henrietta  could  not  resist 
the  temptation  of  entering  it. 

The  door  of  the  little  house  stood  open  before 
her,  being  only  on  the  latch.  She  had  stepped  in : 
there  was  nobody  inside.  In  the  first  room  there 
was  furniture  of  some  hard  wood ;  close  to  the  wall 
stood  a  carved  side-board  with  painted  earthen- 
ware on  it,  on  a  table  was  a  pitcher  of  a  similar 
ware  full  of  fresh  pure  water.  The  door  of  an- 
other room  to  the  right  was  also  open  and  in  that 
room  also  she  found  nobody.  There  stood  a  bed 
with  a  bear  skin  for  a  coverlet,  other  bear  skins 
spread  on  the  floor  served  instead  of  carpets  and 
on  the  walls  were  bright  lynx,  and  wildcat  skins. 

From  this  room  there  was  a  door  leading  into 
a  third  room  and  here  also  she  found  nobody.  The 
walls  of  this  room  were  covered  with  weapons — 
guns,  pistols  and  curiously  shaped  swords  and  dag- 
gers, in  rows  and  crossed,  hanging  on  nails  and 
leaning  against  the  walls.  On  the  oaken  table 
stood  stufifed  beasts  and  birds,  under  the  table  was 
a  stuffed  fox  fastened  to  a  chair;  a  pair  of  wild 
boars'  heads  with  powerful  tusks  were  over  the 
door,  but  there  was  no  sign  of  any  living  beast. 

Henrietta  fancied  that  the  master  of  this  little 
house  must  be  awav  but  not  far  ofif  and  she  made 


4o6  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

up  her  mind  to  wait  till  he  returned  home.  Yet 
one  hour  after  another  passed  away  and  Henrietta 
was  at  last  obliged  to  go  on  further  lest  she  should 
have  to  pass  the  night  there  and,  only  when  she 
was  already  some  distance  away,  was  she  struck 
by  the  peculiar  circumstance  that  all  round  the  hut 
grass  was  growing  thickly  and  that  no  path  led  up 
to  it. 

In  a  few  weeks'  time  curiosity  drew  her  again 
in  the  same  direction.  Alone,  without  any  escort, 
she  stood  before  the  forest  dwelling,  fastened  her 
horse  to  the  fence  and  passed  through  the  door. 

Everything  was  just  as  she  had  seen  it  on  the 
first  occasion.  In  the  first  room  on  the  table  was 
the  earthenware  pitcher  full  of  water ;  in  the  sec- 
ond room  was  the  bed  covered  with  a  bear  skin 
and  in  the  third  room  were  all  the  guns  and  other 
weapons  just  as  she  had  seen  them  before. 

Again  she  waited  for  a  long  time  for  some  of 
the  dwellers  of  this  little  house  to  draw  near,  and 
again  she  waited  in  vain ;  even  by  eventide  not  a 
human  being  had  approached  the  hut. 

These  hut  dwellers  must  be  curious  folks  she 
thought,  they  leave  everything  unlocked,  evil  dis- 
posed people  might  steal  everything. 

On  the  way  back  she  met  some  charcoal  burn- 
ers and  asked  them  about  the  lonely  little  house 
in  the  midst  of  the  forest.  Three  of  the  four  pre- 
tended not  to  understand :  they  did  not  remember 
ever  seeing  such  a  house  they  said.     The  fourth. 


THE  SIGHT  CF  TERROR  407 

however,  told  the  lady  in  reply  that  in  that  house 
dwelt  "Dracu."* 

This  only  made  Henrietta  more  than  ever  cu- 
rious. She  asked  the  priest  about  it  and  even  he 
was  inclined  to  be  evasive.  He  evidently  either 
knew  nothing  about  it  or  was  casting  about  in  his 
mind  for  some  plausible  explanation.  At  last  he 
said  that  rumour  had  it  that  a  huntsman's  family 
had  either  been  murdered  or  had  committed  sui- 
cide there,  and,  ever  since,  nobody  dwelling  in  the 
district  could  be  persuaded  to  cross  its  threshold, 
let  alone  steal  anything  out  of  it ;  they  would  not 
even  take  shelter  there  during  a  storm,  for  they 
believed  that  an  evil  spirit  dwelt  there. 

Henrietta,  however,  did  not  believe  in  these  in- 
visible evil  spirits.  The  evil  spirits  she  was  ac- 
quainted with  all  went  about  in  dress  clothes  and 
surtouts.  The  atmosphere  of  mystery  and  en- 
chantment which  made  the  little  house  uninhab- 
itable only  stimulated  her  fancy.  She  determined 
to  discover  whether  it  was  really  unirihabited  or 
not. 

Accordingly,  when  she  entered  the  house  for  the 
third  time,  she  plucked  a  wild  rose  and  threw  one 
of  its  buds  into  the  pitcher  of  water  on  the  table, 
a  second  on  the  bear  skin  coverlet  of  the  bed  and 
a  third,  fourth  and  fifth  she  stuck  into  the  barrels 
of  the  muskets  hanging  up  in  the  armour  room. 

When  now,  she  visited  the  lonely  house  for  the 
fourth  time,  she  looked  for  the  rose  buds  and 

*  The  Devil. 


4o8  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

could  not  find  one  of  them  in  the  places  where  she 
had  put  them.  Consequently  there  must  needs  be 
someone  who  slept  in  the  bed,  drank  the  fresh 
water  from  the  pitcher  and  used  the  firearms. 

Her  thirst  for  knowledge  now  induced  her  to 
enquire  of  her  husband  concerning  this  little 
dwelling  and  he,  then  and  there,  elucidated  the 
mystery. 

It  was  quite  true  that  a  lonely  inhabitant  of 
this  house  had  once  been  murdered  there,  that  the 
common  people  believed  it  to  be  haunted,  and  that 
consequently  not  one  of  them  would  cross  its 
threshold  at  any  price  either  by  day  or  by  night. 
An  old  landed  proprietor  from  the  mining  town 
of  X.,  who  owned  a  small  strip  of  forest  in  those 
parts  and  was  at  the  same  time  an  enthusiastic 
huntsman,  had  taken  advantage  of  this  popular  su- 
perstition to  buy  this  little  house,  for  a  mere  song. 
He  used  it  as  a  hunting  box.  He  could  not  af- 
ford to  keep  a  huntsman  of  his  own  to  look  after 
it  and  knowing  that  if  he  locked  it  up,  thieves 
would  most  probably  break  into  it  and  steal  every- 
thing, he  left  the  doors  wide  open  and  everyone 
instantly  avoided  it  as  uncanny.  The  reason  Hen- 
rietta never  met  him  was  that  this  old  gentleman 
was  a  government  official,  who  had  to  live  most  of 
his  time  in  the  town  of  Klausenburg,  but  when- 
ever he  was  not  hunting  here  he  was  out  in  the 
forests  all  night  till  dawn  when  he  turned  into  the 
little  house  for  a  nap  and  was  ofif  again  before  the 
afternoon;  and  so  Henrietta  who  regularly  vis- 


THE  SIGHT  OF  TERROR  lOQ 

ited  the  hut  in  the  afternoon,  naturally  never  en- 
countered him. 

Leonard  even  named  the  old  gentleman's  name 
and  then  Henrietta  remembered  meeting  him  at 
the  soirees  at  Klausenburg.  Leonard,  however, 
warned  his  wife  never  to  mention  the  matter  in 
the  presence  of  the  old  gentleman  in  question,  if 
she  should  ever  meet  him,  for  he  had  sundry  rela- 
tions with  poachers  and  other  people  of  that  sort. 
The  fact  was,  his  own  strip  of  forest  was  not  very 
large  and  therefore  he  very  frequently  trespassed 
on  Leonard's  property  in  jDursuit  of  game.  The 
old  gentleman  was,  therefore,  very  desirous  to 
keep  his  passion  for  the  chase  a  secret,  especially 
as  his  relations  with  Leonard  were  none  of  the 
best. 

After  that  Henrietta  had  visited  the  little  forest 
house 'no  more.  This  prosaic  explanation  had 
robbed  it  in  her  eyes  of  all  its  mysterious  interest, 
nor  did  she  think  it  becoming  to  enter  a  house 
whose  owner  was  not  on  very  good  terms  with 
her  husband.  Only  now  did  the  recollection  of  the 
little  forest  dwelling  recur  to  her,  and  in  the  terror 
of  her  soul  she  began  to  regard  the  little  moss- 
covered  hut  whose  doors  stood  open,  night  and 
day,  as  a  possible  asylum.  It  was  the  only  place 
where  she  could  take  refuge,  the  only  place  where 
she  had  no  need  to  fear  spies,  where  nobody  woul.i 
look  for  her,  where  she  might  remain  in  hiding 
and  from  whence  she  might  either  return  home 


4IO  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

or  wander  further  out  into  the  world  accordinor 
as  fate  was  kind  or  unkind  to  her. 

At  night  there  would  be  nobody  in  the  little 
house,  for  the  enthusiastic  old  hunter  would  be 
stalking  the  forest.  It  was  also  possible  that  his 
official  duties  might  keep  him  away  for  days  to- 
gether. But  even  if  she  were  to  meet  him,  why 
should  she  be  afraid  of  the  eccentric  old  man? 
Would  she  not  rather  find  in  him  a  natural  pro- 
tector who  would  conduct  her  out  of  the  moun- 
tains to  Klausenburg  or  Banfi-Hunyad,  from 
whence  she  would  make  her  way  to  Pest  and  there 
seek  a  refuge  in  her  aunt's  house? 

She  did  not  think  twice  about  it,  but  accepted 
the  idea  as  a  heaven-sent  inspiration  which  it  was 
her  duty  to  follow.  She  put  on  a  shawl  as  if  she 
were  only  going  to  take  a  walk  in  the  moonlight 
and  descended  into  the  park  accompanied  by  the 
gardener's  daughter  whom  she  had  bribed  to  help 
her  to  escape.  The  girl  succeeded  in  hoodwink- 
ing the  men  servants  by  dressing  herself  up  in  a 
mantle  of  her  mistress's,  pretending  she  would 
have  supper  out  in  the  park  as  the  night  was  so 
fine  and  warm,  so  that  by  the  time  the  fraud  was 
discovered  and  the  alarm  given,  Henrietta  had 
had  a  start  of  several  hours  and  although  the  men, 
fearful  of  the  anger  of  their  master  when  he 
should  return  and  find  his  wife  flown,  searched 
in  every  direction  with  lighted  torches  they  were 
unable  to  discover  a  trace  of  the  missing  lady. 

Terror  lends  strength  to  the  most  feeble.    Or- 


THE  SIGHT  OF  TERROR  411 

dinarily  Henrietta  was  so  weak  that  it  was  as 
much  as  she  could  do  to  promenade  through  the 
park.  But  to-day  after  a  two  hours'  run  over 
stones  and  through  briars  and  bushes,  at  midnight, 
she  still  did  not  feel  weary.  From  the  top  of  a 
hill  she  looked  back.  She  could  still  see  the  tower 
of  the  castle  of  Hidvár  in  the  valley,  but  it  looked 
blue  through  the  mist  in  the  distance  and  then  she 
hastened  down  into  the  valley  whose  steep  over- 
hanging sides  hid  her  even  from  the  moonlight. 

The  night  was  noiseless,  the  forest  dark.  Now 
and  again  a  humming  night  beetle  circled  round 
and  round  her  and  obstinately  pursued  her  as  if 
he  also  was  a  spy  sent  after  her.  The  poor  thing's 
heart  throbbed  violently.  What  if  she  had  lost 
her  way?  What  if  she  fell  into  tlie  hands  of  the 
robbers  whom  they  were  now  actually  pursuing 
through  the  woods  ?  Yet  still  greater  was  her  ter- 
ror of  Hidvár  and  a  hundred  times  more  home- 
like was  the  dreadful  forest  with  its  giant  trees 
speaking  in  their  sleep  than  the  tapestried  walls  of 
the  Castle  of  Hidvár. 

Suddenly  a  glade  opened  up  before  her  which 
seemed  to  greet  her  as  an  old  acquaintance. 

Yes,  indeed,  there  were  the  wild  roses  which 
she  had  so  often  plucked  to  adorn  her  hat.  The 
hunting-box  could  not  be  far  off  now.  It  con- 
ceals itself  to  the  right  of  the  rose  bushes  beneath  a 
lofty  birch. 

A  few  moments  later  she  found  herself  outside 
its  door. 


412  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

As  she  laid  her  hand  on  the  latch,  a  thought  of 
terror  transfixed  her.  What  if  the  door  should 
be  shut  ? 

But  she  had  only  to  press  the  latch  in  order  to 
put  all  her  fears  to  flight.  The  door  this  time  also 
was  not  fastened. 

Standing  on  the  threshold  she  enquired  with  a 
trembling  voice :    "Is  anybody  in?" 

No  answer. 

Then  she  closed  the  door  behind  her  and  opened 
the  door  of  the  second  room.  There  also  nobody 
responded  to  her  enquiry.  The  third  room  was 
also  open  as  usual,  nay  even  one  of  its  windows 
was  opened  towards  the  orchard.  Moreover, 
everything  was  in  its  proper  place  just  as  she  had 
always  found  it — the  weapons,  the  bear  skin  cov- 
erlet and  the  water  pitcher. 

It  occurred  to  Henrietta  to  close  the  door  from 
the  inside  so  that  nobody  might  come  upon  her 
unawares  while  she  slept.  But  then  the  thought 
also  struck  her  that  it  was  not  right  to  lock  the  old 
gentleman  out  of  his  own  house  especially  as  he 
might  turn  up  in  the  early  morning  tired  out  and 
half  frozen.  So  she  ultimately  decided  to  stay  up 
for  him  in  order  to  tell  him,  as  soon  as  he  arrived, 
that  she  meant  to  obtain  a  separation  from  her 
husband,  whose  conduct  she  could  no  longer  en- 
dure. Till  then  she  would  try  hard  not  to  go  to 
sleep.  But  she  was  tired  to  death  from  her  long 
run  through  the  forest  and  was  obliged  at  last  to 
throw  herself  on  the  bear  skin  coverlet  to  rest ;  and 


THE  SIGHT  OF  TERROR  413 

gradually  sleep  overcame  all  her  anguish,  all  her 
terror. 

She  might  have  slept  for  about  a  half  an  hour, 
a  restless,  phantom-haunted  sleep  at  best,  when 
she  suddenly  awoke. 

It  seemed  to  her  as  if  she  had  heard  a  distant 
cry.  Perhaps  she  had  only  imagined  she  had 
heard  it  in  her  slumbers,  and  perhaps  what  she 
had  dreamt  was  so  awful  and  what  she  fancied 
she  had  heard  was  so  terrible,  that  it  had  awak- 
ened her. 

She  began  to  listen  attentively.  After  mid- 
night every  light  sound  seems  so  loud. 

She  fancied  in  the  great  stillness  that  she  could 
hear  rapidly  approaching  footsteps. 

Again  a  cry !  like  the  cry  of  a  hunted  beast,  like 
the  cry  of  a  wounded  wolf! 

She  was  not  dreaming  now,  she  could  hear  it 
plainly.  She  saw  where  she  was.  The  moon- 
light was  streaming  through  the  window,  she 
could  see  to  the  end  of  all  three  rooms. 

Suddenly  at  the  window  overlooking  the  gar- 
den whence  the  moonbeams  streamed  in,  a  black 
shape  appeared  which  obscured  the  moonlight  for 
an  instant. 

This  shape  leaped  through  the  window  and, 
panting  hard,  rushed  through  the  two  rooms  intu 
the  third  where  the  arms  stood. 

Henrietta  saw  it  fly  past  her  bed,  she  heard  its 
panting  sobs  and — recognized  it. 


414  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

It  was  Fatia  Negra!  this  was  Fatia  Negra's 
house ! 

And  this  was  not  all. 

Close  upon  the  traces  of  Fatia  Negra  rushed 
another  phantom  with  a  drawn  sword  in  its  hand, 
but  its  face  was  towards  her  and  she  recognized  in 
it — Szilárd  Vamhidy. 

And  yet  she  did  not  lose  her  consciousness  at 
this  double  sight  of  terror,  though  it  would  have 
been  much  better  for  her  if  she  had. 

Fatia  Negra  plunged  into  the  armoury  and 
plucked  down  a  pistol  from  the  wall. 

Szilárd  paused  on  the  threshold. 

"Halt!"  cried  Fatia  Negra  with  a  voice  like  a 
scream — "this  is  my  house  and  your  tomb." 

Szilárd  did  not  condescend  to  reply  but  drew  a 
step  nearer. 

"Sir,  but  one  word  more,"  said  Fatia  Negra 
in  a  fainter  voice  and  so  hoarsely  as  to  be  scarcely 
audible,  "you  have  wounded  me,  you  have  run 
me  down ;  but  your  life  is  now  in  my  hands  and  I 
could  kill  you  this  instant  if  I  had  a  mind  to.  Let 
us  bargain  a  bit :  I  won't  kill  you  if  you  will  not 
pursue  me  any  further.  You  return  and  say  you 
could  not  catch  me.  I  swear  to  you  that  to-mor- 
row I  will  send  you  twenty  thousand  ducats." 

With  contemptuous  coldness  Szilárd  replied: 
"Surrender,  I  will  not  bargain." 

"You  won't  bargain,  you  crushed  worm  you! 
The  mouth  of  my  pistol  is  on  a  level  with  your 
forehead.     I  have  only  to  press  my  finger  and 


THE  SIGHT  OF  TERROR  4:5 

your  head  would  be  shattered — and  yet  you  dare 
to  have  it  out  with  me?  Do  you  want  to  save 
your  head?" 

"I  mean  to  have  yours,"  said  Szilárd  and  he 
drew  a  step  nearer  to  the  adventurer. 

"My  head,  eh?  Ha,  ha,  ha!  \ou  would  have 
it  would  you,  and  have  it  here !    Take  it  then !" 

At  that  moment  a  piercing  shriek  startled  the 
two  deadly  antagonists  and  in  the  adjoining  room 
a  white  figure  fell  prone  upon  the  floor. 

The  next  moment  there  was  a  loud  report  and 
Fatia  Negra  fell  back  lifeless  on  the  bear  skin  car- 
pet. 

At  the  very  moment  when  he  had  laughed  aloud 
and  cried:  "Take  it  then!"  he  had  suddenly  put 
the  mouth  of  the  pistol  into  his  own  mouth  and 
fired  it  off.  The  heavy  charge  blew  his  head  to 
bits,  Szilárd  felt  a  warm  red  rain  showering  down 
upon  him. 

So  Fatia  Negra,  after  all,  did  not  give  up  his 
head,  the  pistol  shot  had  annihilated  it. 

And  nobody  ever  knew  who  Fatia  Negra  really 
was. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

THE  ACCOMMODATION 

It  was  now  the  seventh  time  that  Mr.  John 
Lapussa  had  informed  Mr.  Sipos  that  he  wanted 
to  see  him  and  for  the  seventh  time  word  was 
sent  back  that  the  lawyer  could  not  come.  Why 
could  he  not  come  ?  They  could  not  say.  Finally 
a  message  was  delivered  to  the  effect  that  the  law- 
yer could  not  come  either  that  day,  or  the  next, 
or  indeed  on  any  other  day  in  the  whole  year.  In 
a  word  Mr,  Sipos  declined  to  have  anything  more 
to  do  with  the  Lapussa  family  or  its  affairs.  Their 
transactions  were  not  at  all  to  his  taste. 

So,  as  Mr.  Sipos  would  not  appear  at  the  sum- 
mons of  Mr.  John  Lapussa,  Mr.  John  Lapussa 
must  needs  call  upon  Mr.  Sipos. 

He  was  wearing  mourning  in  his  hat  and  tried 
hard  to  lend  his  face  a  funereal  appearance  also. 

"Have  you  heard  the  news?"  he  asked. 

Mr.  Sipos  had  heard  nothing. 

"Don't  you  see  the  mourning  in  my  hat  ?  Alas ! 
my  poor  niece,  unhappy  Henrietta !" 

"Well,  what  has  happened?" 

"Hátszegi  has  been  drowned  in  the  Maros." 

"Impossible,  he  was  a  first-rate  swimmer." 

"His  horse  ran  away  with  him,  he  had  lost  all 
control  over  it.  When  he  saw  that  the  horse  was 
416 


THE  ACCOMMODATION  417 

determined  to  plunge  into  the  river  from  the  high 
bank,  he  tried  to  spring  out  of  the  saddle,  but  his 
spur  unfortunately  caught  in  the  stirrups  and  the 
horse  dragged  him  down  with  it  into  the  water. 
There  in  the  full  stream,  with  his  head  down- 
wards and  his  legs  in  the  air,  he  vainly  attempted 
to  extricate  himself.  The  frantic  horse  swam  with 
him  to  the  opposite  shore,  dragging  the  poor 
wretch  after  it,  and  before  the  opposite  bank  was 
reached,  his  head  was  so  shattered  that  it  was  im- 
possible to  recognize  his  features.  It  is  now  a 
v/eek  since  they  buried  him  in  the  family  vault  at 
Hidvár.  Poor  Henrietta!  So  young  to  be  left 
a  widow !  And  to  have  lost  so  handsome,  so  be- 
loved a  husband  through  so  sad  a  death !  Really 
lamentable!" 

"I  wonder  what  the  rascal  is  after  now," 
thought  Mr.  Sipos. 

"My  heart  really  is  breaking  for  her!  If  only 
there  were  not  these  unhappy  money  differences 
between  us.  I  am  not  a  tiger.  My  heart  is  not 
made  of  stone.  Perhaps  you  don't  believe  me! 
Let  me  tell  you  that  1  have  half  resolved,  despite 
the  old  gentleman's  will,  to  transfer  to  my  niece, 
Henrietta,  the  Kerekedar  property." 

"Because  its  expenses  are  greater  than  its  reve- 
nue, I  presume?" 

"None  of  your  poor  witticisms,  sir.  I  am  ready 
to  make  any  sacrifices  to  oblige  my  relatives.  The 
world  misjudges  me.  They  call  me  greedy  and 
avaricious;  if  only  they  could  look  into  my  heart!" 


41 8  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

"What  you  have  done  hitherto,  sir,  does  not 
testify  to  any  great  regard  for  your  relatives.  For 
instance,  look  at  the  case  of  my  client,  young  Colo- 
man— for  you  know  that  Vamhidy  has  instructed 
me  to  act  for  him.  What  intrigues,  what  tricks 
were  employed  to  fasten  upon  him  the  suspicion  of 
forgery!  Nobody  knows  that  better  than  you, 
sir.  And  let  me  tell  you  that  although  my  young 
client  is  nothing  but  a  strolling  player,  I  shall 
spare  no  pains  to  thoroughly  vindicate  his  good 
name  and  you,  with  all  your  wealth  and  property, 
will  be  unable  to  affect  the  issue  one  jot." 

Mr.  John  pondered  for  a  moment.  "Look 
here,"  said  he  at  last,  "let  us  pitch  the  whole  con- 
founded suit  into  the  fire.  I  have  a  compromise 
to  propose.  I  candidly  confess  I  am  in  a  bit  of 
a  hólé.  That  bill  business  is  now  before  the  courts 
and  when  it  comes  on  for  trial,  it  will  cause  a  hor- 
rible scandal  and  people  have  condemned  me  be- 
forehand. I  only  wish  I  had  never  mixed  myself 
up  in  it." 

"Suppose  I  help  you  out  of  the  difficulty !" 

"In  that  case  you  may  dictate  your  own  condi- 
tions and  I  will  consent  to  them  beforehand." 

"There  is  only  one  way  to  save  you.  Henrietta 
must  say  that  the  bill  is  not  forged,  but  is  really 
signed  by  her  and  she  must  then  pay  and  cancel 
it,  then  every  foundation  of  a  charge  against  you 
vanishes." 

"A  sublime  idea,"  cried  Mr.  John  springing 


THE  ACCOMMODATION  419 

from  his  seat.  "And  now  let  me  hear  your  condi- 
tions." 

"My  only  condition  is,  complete  satisfaction 
to  be  made  to  the  children  of  your  second  sister." 

"What !  surrender  a  whole  third  of  the  prop- 
erty to  them  without  any  deduction?" 

"We  will  accept  nothing  less." 

"What  must  I  do  first  then  ?" 

"First  you  must  pay  the  baroness  forty  thou- 
sand florins." 

"Forty  thousand  florins!    Why?" 

"In  order  that  she  may  meet  the  bill  as  soon  as 
she  has  acknowledged  her  signature." 

"Well,  and  what  next?" 

"You  must  sign  deeds  whereby  you  undertake 
to  surrender  to  the  children  of  your  late  sister 
the  estates  of  Zóldhalom  and  Orökvar  bequeathed 
to  them  by  your  father." 

"Why,  they  are  the  best  paying  properties  of 
all." 

"Then  pay  them  the  value  of  the  estates  in 
cash." 

"That  would  seriously  inconvenience  me." 

"Then  make  over  your  houses  in  Vienna  and 
Pest." 

"I  cannot  find  it  in  my  heart  to  part  with  them." 

"Then  propose  some  other  expedient." 

"Very  well,  I  will.  Give  me  till  to-morrow  to 
think  it  over." 

And  with  that  Mr.  John  put  on  his  hat  and  took 
his  leave. 


420  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

The  following  day  the  lawyer  awaited  him  in 
vain;  then  he  waited  for  him  a  whole  fortnight, 
but  Mr.  John  never  came  near  him.  Then  he 
went  to  the  courts  to  find  out  what  was  being 
done  and  there  he  learnt,  to  his  astonishment, 
that  the  declaration  of  the  Baroness  Hátszegi  ac- 
knowledging the  genuineness  of  her  signature  to 
the  bill  had  already  arrived. 

What  had  happened  was  this :  As  soon  as 
Mr.  John  had  got  Sipos's  opinion  gratis,  he 
quickly  traveled  post  to  Hidvár  and  had  a  chat 
with  his  niece  over  the  business.  The  poor  lady 
was  so  utterly  crushed  by  her  misfortunes  that  she 
could  scarce  fix  her  mind  steadily  on  anything  and 
was  a  mere  tool  in  his  hands.  She  accepted  the 
properties  offered  to  her  by  her  uncle — what  did  it 
matter  to  her  now  how  much  or  how  little  they 
brought  in ! — and  gave  an  acknowledgment  in 
writing  that  the  signature  to  the  bill  was  her  own. 

Mr.  Sipos  was  therefore  not  very  much  sur- 
prised when  one  day  he  received  a  commission 
from  the  baroness's  agent  to  pay  over  the  forty 
thousand  florins  in  question  to  a  financial  agent 
at  Pest.  So  Mr.  John  made  a  rattling  good  profit 
out  of  the  transaction  and  Henrietta  in  return  for 
her  generosity  had  to  pay  up  in  cash  as  Mr.  Sipo:^; 
had  shrewdly  anticipated  she  would  have  to  do  all 
along.     But  it  was  all  one  to  Henrietta. 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

CONCLUSION 

Meanwhile  the  long  drawn  out  process  be- 
tween Mr.  John  and  his  sister  Madame  Lángai 
continued  its  course.  There  was  no  thought  of  a 
compromise  between  the  parties.  Madame  Lángai 
expended  so  much  of  her  private  means  in  the  ac- 
tion that  nearly  the  whole  of  the  property  left  her 
by  her  husband  went  in  costs.  She  could  now 
neither  keep  her  coach  nor  live  in  a  large  house. 
She  cooped  herself  up  in  a  couple  of  small  rooms, 
visited  nobody  and  wore  dresses  that  had  been 
out  of  fashion  for  at  least  four  years — and  all  to 
be  able  to  carry  on  the  action ! 

It  was  ten  years  before  the  suit  came  to  an  end. 

Mr.  John  lost  it  and  a  fearful  blow  it  was  to 
him,  for  he  had  to  pay  out  a  million  to  his  sister 
without  any  further  delay.  It  is  true  he  had  as 
much  again  left  for  himself,  but  to  be  the  pos- 
sessor of  only  a  single  million  is  nevertheless  a 
fearful  thought  to  anyone  who  has  hitherto  been 
the  possessor  of  two  millions. 

The  poor  plutocrat!  How  deeply  it  disturbed 
him  to  be  obliged  to  pay  his  only  sister  her  due 
portion !  How  the  constant  thought  that  he  was 
now  only  half  as  rich  as  he  had  been  before 
gnawed  his  life  away !     Poor,  poor  plutocrat ! 

421 


422  POOR  PLUTOCRATS 

Szilárd  had  a  brilliant  career — a  career  extend- 
ing far  beyond  the  horizon  of  this  simple  story. 
He  never  married.  Count  Kengyelesy  quizzed 
him  often  enough  and  was  continually  asking  him 
why  he  did  not  try  his  luck  again  with  his  former 
ideal  now  that  she  had  become  a  widow.  All  such 
questions,  however,  he  used  to  evade  in  a  corre- 
sponding tone  of  jocularity.  But  once  when  Ken- 
gyelesy inquired  seriously  why  he  never  ap- 
proached Baroness  Hátszegi  and  at  the  same  time 
reproached  him  for  his  want  of  feeling  in  so  ob- 
stinately keeping  out  of  the  poor  lady's  way,  Szi- 
lárd replied :  "I  am  not  one  of  those  who  can  be 
thrown  away  to-day  and  picked  up  again  to-mor- 
row." 

After  that  the  count  never  mentioned  Henri- 
etta's name  in  Szilard's  presence  again — and  who 
knows  whether  there  was  not  some  impediment 
between  these  two  from  which  no  sacrament  could 
absolve  them.  Who  knows  whether  it  might  not 
after  all  have  been  as  well  for  Vamhidy  to  avoid 
any  meeting  whatever  with — the  widow  of  the 
late  Baron  Hátszegi? 

Yet  it  was  she  who  was,  in  any  case,  the  most 
wretched  of  them  all.  Although  only  six  and 
twenty  she  could  already  be  called  an  old  woman. 
She  was  the  victim  of  her  shattered  nerves  night 
and  day.  The  least  noise  made  her  tremble.  The 
opening  of  a  door  was  sufficient  to  make  her  start 
up.  When  she  was  only  four  and  twenty  she  had 
already  given  up  plucking  out  her  grey  hairs, 


CONCLUSION  423 

there  were  so  many  of  them.  She  found  no  re- 
laxation in  the  society  of  her  fellows  and  therefore 
avoided  all  social  gatherings.  Most  of  her  time 
she  spent  at  home,  sitting  all  by  herself  in  the  re- 
motest chamber  of  the  house,  half  of  whose  wall 
was  by  this  time  overgrown  by  the  asclepia  which 
Szilárd  had  given  her  ages  ago — or  so  it  seemed  to 
her.  This  was  the  only  one  of  her  acquaintances 
which  had  not  forsaken  her,  and  luckily  for  her  it 
was  tenacious  of  life,  for  if  that  too  had  perished, 
with  whom  could  poor  Henrietta  have  held  con- 
verse ? 

So  there  was  at  least  one  creature  in  the  world 
to  whom  this  possessor  of  millions  could  still  con- 
fide her  reminiscences  and  her  sorrows.  Poor 
rich  lady,  all  the  poorer  because  of  her  great 
w^ealth !     Poor  plutocrat ! 


THE   END 


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